JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Since the Trump administration reinstated a bombing campaign against Iran, at least three U.S. soldiers have been killed. This came after Iran began striking U.S. bases in the region again. It's leaving families of soldiers and sailors wondering what happens next. For more, we have Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia. Hi, Steve.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: How are you doing?
SUMMERS: Hey. I'm well. So, Steve, I understand you were recently waiting with family members at the port in Norfolk when USS Fort Lauderdale came home after a long deployment. Tell us what you saw and heard.
WALSH: Right. So this was the homecoming for the amphibious transport ship which carries sailors and Marines. They left Norfolk with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group last August, but they were the last of the ships to return, and they spent over 11 months on deployment. I should note, they were down in the Caribbean, originally part of the effort to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, but they stayed in the region for months, including providing aid after the devastating earthquake there. So while a lot of the focus has been on Iran, these sailors were also out at sea for almost a year.
SUMMERS: What did people you talked to say about how that affected their families, especially now, as we're seeing the operations around Iran heating up again?
WALSH: So I talked with Ensign Ryan Silver, who was waiting on the pier for his wife, Lieutenant Olivia Silver.
RYAN SILVER: I think it's something you really have to experience in order to know. Eleven months is easy to say, but if you think about what you were doing 11 months ago, it's - it will likely feel like an eternity ago (laughter). And to do it without your favorite person in the world is not easy.
WALSH: And then - by the way - he was holding a very large bouquet of flowers.
SUMMERS: I mean, Steve, that just sounds really tough. It sounds like he has had enough of these long deployments.
WALSH: Oh, yeah. They were both really ready for this to be over. On the other hand, Silver says the two of them are naval officers. They're both following the war in Iran. He says neither of them are deterred by the prospect of more long deployments.
SILVER: Ultimately, we all signed up to support and defend the country. And if this is what the smart people higher up think that we need to do in order to keep defending the country, then we're here to do it.
SUMMERS: And Steve, NPR has confirmed that the Department of Defense was slow-walking news on casualties. What about communications for the families of these service members, particularly as they face these long deployments?
WALSH: Well, you know, for one thing, these sailors are at sea a lot longer. Typically, carriers pull into port every month or so to resupply and let the crews decompress. But since Iran is striking U.S. bases in the Middle East, that has drastically limited the Navy's options. So part of the bombing campaign against Iran, the carrier USS Lincoln has spent more than 200 days at sea. That's more continuous time at sea than during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sailors can say very little about what they've been doing during the months when they're away from home. Valorie Hepburn - she waited on the pier for her son Justin Pless, who works in IT on the USS Fort Lauderdale. This was his first deployment, and it was - he was gone for close to a year. She's worried about what's going to happen next.
VALORIE HEPBURN: Absolutely. It's scary because you just never know what's happening. Everything has been a shock. Every time something happens, it's just - we just don't know what direction we're going in this country. So yeah. I'm a little afraid for him.
SUMMERS: And finally, Steve, I just want to note that the slow flow of information from the Pentagon keeps coming up. As I understand, there hasn't been a press conference since May. Do we know why?
WALSH: Yeah. Since May, and at no real reason given. And when it comes to what's next, I heard some of these same sentiments from numerous families of sailors on other ships coming in and out of Naval Station Norfolk. They just don't know what to expect.
SUMMERS: That's Steve Walsh, reporting from Norfolk, Virginia. Thank you.
WALSH: Thanks.
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