The Virginia Class, fast-attack submarine, U.S.S. New Mexico, returned to its homeport Wednesday at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London after a six month deployment at sea.
“I'm just going to hug him,” said Ret. Chief Quartermaster Rick Perritt of the U.S. Navy. He waited for his grandson to arrive on the submarine. For Perritt, it’s a new, proud experience being the one waiting on the pier.
"He picked a career that I was proud of,” he said.
U.S. Air Force veteran, Capt. Edward Denalsky, flew B-17s. The 95-year-old was waiting to welcome his grandson-in-law back.
"The livelihood and the excitement and the (exuberance), you know? It's just terrific!” Denalsky said.
This homecoming was a birthday present for military mom, Cristy Barham.
She comes from a military family, but said, “As a wife it's hard, but as a mom, somehow it's harder. It's just on a different level.”
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The first coupd to hug one another was producer Alexandra Rizk Keane and her husband, Lt. Junior Grade Michael Keane.
In the six months he was gone, Alexandra Rizk Keane produced the movie "Literally, Right Before Aaron," starring Cobie Smulders, Justin Long, and written and directed by NBC’s "The Blacklist" star Ryan Eggold. It premiered on Saturday at the Tribeca Film Festival and her husband will see the last screening on Thursday night.
