USS Roosevelt Arrives at Port Today
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is returning to the naval station in Norfolk, Virginia this morning. It has completed a 189-day cruise that included launching air strikes on targets in Afghanistan. CNN's Eric Philips is dockside, where there a lot of anxious families and men -- I bet they're happy too, Eric.</s>ERIC PHILIPS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning, Carol. You are absolutely right about that. After, like you said, almost 190 days at sea, the USS Theodore Roosevelt will return to port this morning to be greeted by a crowd of some 15,000. We got a preview of what today's homecoming will be like yesterday, when the Roosevelt's air wing returned to the area.</s>PHILIPS (voice-over): E-2C Hawkeyes touched</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has just been really great to have him home.</s>PHILIPS: From the time the USS Roosevelt battle group pulled out for their scheduled deployment on September 19th, sailors and their families knew this trip would be anything but regular. No more exercises or drills, Operating Enduring Freedom would be a real war with real casualties. An ever-present reminder: the rubble flag from the World Trade Center blast. It flew over the Roosevelt during this deployment. It was returned to New York City firefighters during a special ceremony Tuesday on board the ship.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew we were safe at sea. We felt pretty secure, but we didn't know what kind of changes were going to be happening here at home.</s>PHILIPS: Now a fraction of the Roosevelt battle group has returned to begin experiencing those changes. And later today, this scene will be repeated in a big way, as 5,500 more sailors and Marines pull into port aboard the mother ship.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wait was long, but it was -- you know, it's those -- just last few anxious moments.</s>PHILIPS: Thousands of sailors and their loved ones are experiencing those last few anxious moments right now. The USS Theodore Roosevelt expected to reach port at 9:00 Eastern Time this morning. But we'll be able to see it here long before then, because this ship is as tall as a 24-story building and it's four and a half acres wide -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: That means it's going to be one long homecoming.</s>PHILIPS: That's right.</s>COSTELLO: OK. Thank you, Eric Philips, for reporting live for us this morning from Norfolk.