USS Kitty Hawk sent to Persian Gulf

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — They’re anxious, excited and mad.

That was the gamut of reactions Saturday from spouses and a crewmembers aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, ordered last week to join several other carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf for a possible showdown with Iraq. Rumors floated around for weeks that the Kitty Hawk might be called in, and now, with the order out on the street, family members are mustering their courage and bracing for whatever comes.

A Navy official confirmed Saturday the ship will be heading to Central Command’s area of responsibility.

Leata Cheng, whose husband, Lt. j.g. Harry Cheng, has been aboard the Kitty Hawk for two years, had heard rumors the ship was returning here Saturday.

“I was real excited about that, and let myself believe that, ‘Hey, he might be back today.’ So I was looking forward to it,” she said. “My husband is always telling me not to listen to rumors, and he was right, because then I heard they are going out to the Gulf.

“Then, I was sad and mad. I’m glad I have a job that keeps me busy. I’d rather be doing that than staying at home and crying.”

Still, Cheng is fully aware of the Gulf’s potential for danger.

“It’s a serious thing,” she said. “I know they’ll be fine. Kitty Hawk is the 911 carrier, so I trust they’ll do their job and come back safely.”

For Marie Spencer, wife of Master Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Spencer, the fear of the unknown her husband is sailing into “is killing me softly every night.”

“I just pray everything will be OK,” she said. “It’s really difficult. Every night, you’re always thinking about them, hoping they’ll come back in one piece.”

Spencer’s children often ask when their father is coming home, she said, and it’s difficult keeping a strong face for them. But she perseveres.

“We wish that this war would not have to happen, so they can come back safe and see their family,” she added.

One Kitty Hawk crewmember, Petty Officer 3rd Class Foster Jackson, left behind as part of the ship’s “beach detachment,” said few doubted their next mission would involve a trip into harm’s way.

“It was not a surprise,” he said. “It was expected, especially with everything that’s going on with the Gulf.”

Jackson believes his ship is “very prepared” to join the other carrier groups in the Gulf. But he also knows this might not be any routine mission, and that’s a little unsettling.

“I got a lot of friends on the ship,” he said.