The Aspen crew played instrumental roles in the Gulf oil spill and the Carnival cruise nightmare.
The 41 crew members came back to heroes' welcome.
The Aspen is 225 feet long. It deploys skimming and oil containment equipment.
It was very emotional on land. The spouses have held very tight bonds while their husbands or wives were away.
The Aspen crew joined more than 180 other California based Coast Guard personnel who dealt with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
"Everyday it's 'I miss daddy. When is daddy coming home? Where is daddy?' But I tell him he is cleaning up the oil, and he is helping people and they get it, they understand. It was difficult. Especially because we just moved from Florida and he left two weeks later. So coming here, being alone and then him gone for five months - it's what we have to do," said Shaye Agnone, a crew member's wife.
The Aspen was detoured over to the Carnival Splendor cruise ship which lost power off the Mexican coast on Monday. And then before it could get there, the Aspen was told to go back to San Francisco.
