140 Coast Guardsmen welcomed home in Alameda after 118-day deployment

ALAMEDA, Calif. (KGO) -- On Wednesday, around 140 Coast Guardsmen returned to Alameda after a 118 day deployment.

They were sent to the Indo-Pacific to conduct engagements in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and more.

"My last hug was May 4 and I'm just ugh, so excited to see him and so proud," Lacy Brown, the parent of a returning Coast Guardsman said. "This is his second tour, he spent his 22nd birthday out at sea so it's just so proud of my son, he's a young man."

But on Wednesday, after nearly four months of waiting, family members of the nearly 140 coastguardsmen on board, were patiently waiting to welcome them home with signs, open arms and a few tears.

"I know it's one thing to miss my husband, but it's another thing to miss the father of your kids," Rachel Sanchez, the wife of a returning Coast Guardsman said.

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Sanchez says her husband left to go on this tour when their daughter was just five-and-a-half months old.

"I'm so proud, he gives us everything," she said.

Captain Rula Deisher, the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro says her crew went to places like Hawaii, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, just to name a few, working with a number of partners and allies in support of a free and open pacific.

"We did some law enforcement subject matter exchanges, we did some damage control subject matter exchanges and just overall talking, we do a lot of fisheries, there's a lot of similarities between us and the Navies over there," Capt. Deisher said.

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And she says it was the people on board that made the trip so rewarding.

"We live together for months at a time and get to know each other very, very well so best part about being on a Cutter in the Pacific is getting to know the people and becoming a family," she said.

The Cutter Munro will stay in port for the next few months before taking off on its next mission.

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