The welcome for 1,300 Naval Station Ingleside sailors today will be short on pomp and long on private celebrations, with doting parents traveling thousands of miles to greet their sailor sons and daughters and intimacy-starved spouses renting hotel rooms for romantic reunions. And when the ships dock at the U.S. Navy's Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in Ingleside, the Hinkles, along with hundreds of other mothers, fathers, wives and family of the sailors, will be there, too. He needs a hug. Hundreds of cheering, flag-waving Coastal Bend residents are expected to descend on Naval Station Ingleside for the sailors' return this morning. Navy officials plan to hold a quick welcome at the base but will not waste time with a full-fledged ceremony, said Ensign Chuck Bell, public affairs officer with the Mine Warfare Command.
Spouses are the ones planning the most special welcomes for the sailors.
You will see some girls here who will knock you down. They've been on diets. They look the best they'll ever look. It's an estrogen high. The hormones are just going absolutely bonkers.