NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. – The USS Cooperstown departed Naval Station Mayport Monday morning, joining a growing list of Jacksonville-based ships currently supporting operations overseas.
Family and friends gathered at Mayport to say goodbye to the crew of the USS Coopertown.
“Take it one day at a time and keep thinking back to the memories that we have with him before and then look forward to the ones you’re going to make afterwards,” Jewelia Lenze, a Navy daughter, said.
The girlfriend of a sailor said the departures can be scary.
“It’s comforting, but also a little scary still,” Gracie Walther said. “I know where they’re going, there’s still a lot going on, and there might be some conflicts, but just trying to stay positive.”
The mother of a sailor said there’s a sense of pride along with the fear.
“It’s a sense of pride, fear with the environment that’s going on right now, and just within the military and everything that we see happening overseas, but immensely proud,” Carolina Walker said.
The USS Cooperstown’s departure follows recent deployments of two other Mayport-based ships — the USS Mason and the USS Donald Cook — which left port back in March.
The USS Mason made headlines just days before the USS Cooperstown’s departure after navigating the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was among two Navy destroyers that entered the Persian Gulf after encountering what the U.S. military described as an Iranian barrage.
Commander Jesse DuParc, the ship’s Commanding Officer, explained the ship’s capabilities.
“Humanitarian efforts, sea control, deterrence, forward presence operations, to name a few. And every single time that we have gone out to train for those missions, we have passed them and excelled through them--My sailors are trained and ready and eager to go fight for our country and for our loved ones,” DuParc said.
Family members said it never gets any easier, no matter how many times their loved ones deploy, but they know it will be a joyous day when they return.
“It will be a happy day and it’ll look a lot different because we’ll have one that’s going to be walking around instead of being held,” Lenze said.
At this time, details about the ship’s mission and timeline remain undisclosed.