Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

On my visits with my son in Norfolk/Portsmouth, I saw many sailors that were alone, there are alot of military personnel in that area you wouldn't think anyone would be alone, but they are. I have seen  this with my son, I call him or text him everyday and we visit as often as we can. Everyday I pray for his health mentally and physically. They all need our prayers.

I don't know about the rest of you all but I find it extremely ironic, disturbing, and sad that the US Government does not abide by the same requirements of the American's with Disabilities Act that other organizations must follow. You mean there isn't one job in the Navy that someone could do with an injured job? I too find it unacceptable that sailors are stuck in limbo for 6+ months waiting to get processed out. that would be isolating and depressing for anyone. Just saying...

DARmom, specifically in the Navy it is because most Sailors are on a sea/shore rotation where they rotate between sea duty and shore duty. Most ships don't have the medical facilities to treat those with chronic ongoing injuries and can't accept those Sailors to fill their needed sea duty billets. Unfortunately, a Sailor that can't go to sea (in a sea going rate) isn't a lot of use to the Navy. 

I know it doesn't seem fair to the Sailor that is going through it, however, it wouldn't be fair to ALL the healthy Sailors that have to stay at sea because all the shore duty billets are taken by those Sailors who need ongoing medical treatment.

Even the ADA allows employees with disabilities to be discharged if they can't meat the bona fide occupational qualifications and perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodations. A Sailor that can't go to sea definitely falls into that category.

Just a couple more weeks and my husband and I will get to see our son in Norfolk.  We are so excited!  It will be about 14-15 hours for us so we will drive some one day, and finish up the next day.  My son told me that we aren't going to do a lot of sleeping while we are out there because he said if we do that, then the time will fly by.  I told him we would stay busy from the time we get there on Friday until Sunday night.  After that we will just have the evenings with him. 

He is one of those kids that will do things by himself and not think twice about it.  That breaks my heart because as a mom I don't want to see him being alone when he is new to Norfolk.  Lately he has been hanging out with one of the guys in his division, so that makes me feel better.  ha  He has been running all over the place in cabs since he got there in January.  He gets carsick and says some of those rides about do him in with their driving. ha He has no problem with walking places too.  He calls us pretty much every night, so I am glad we get to talk to him and hear about his day.  If he needs to vent about anything, I am usually the lucky one.  Being a military parent is truly an honor, but I definitely have a hard time knowing that we can't see him whenever we want.  I have my days where that makes me really sad. It seems to be harder when it is your youngest too. 

HuffyMom23,

We should get our sons in touch with one another.  My son walks or catches the bus everywhere.  He is currently cranking and working 15 hour days, but goes to the WMR (welfare, morals and recreation) building when he has free time.  Free computers, video games, etc.  Private Message me and we can get them together.

I am jealous, you get to go to Norfolk!  I am too far away and can't leave Kindergarteners for the time it would take me to go.  He will eventually have his ship moved and will be closer to family so I will go see him then.  Be safe, Huffy!

Does anyone know of any houses, cottages, cabins ot hotels to rent near the beach down there? A bunch of my family is going to go down there for my son's homcoming when it get warm out and we wanted to make a vacation out of it but didn't want to go broke doing it either. There are serveral kids with us so we wanted something near the water or with a pool.

Cindy D, you may want to look at this website as you can find great places at a good price.  Make sure you make contact with the owner of the property.

http://www.vrbo.com/

B-Ready - Yes we were thinking of Virginia Beach area. We usually stay at the Navy lodge and that is nice and close but no pool for the kids. My only fear is they say that they can change the date of homecoming at any time so I am very worried about renting a house and then the date get changed and then we are stuck. Where as a hotel or condo we may be able to change the date a little eaiser if need be. There will be myself and 5 of my sisters and their families driving from Ohio and a big house would be fun too! What to do What to do? We are usually a camping family but not sure if we want to do that this time unless someone has a good recommendation.

some of us have pop up and some of us have rv's.  Just not sure if we want to haul them all the way down there.  I am really thinking the hotel is going to be the better option or camping if we decide that. I hate to get stuck with a big cancellation fee on a house if they change the date. I will check out some of these web sites though.

Sandra That would be great. Some campgrounds even have small cabins that you can rent and that would be fine too. I am just not sure that my little pop up would make the 12 hour journey.

Cindy-what time of year will you be here? Not looking for an exact date (gotta remember OPSEC!) but summertimes here can get pretty pricey and book up quickly. The Navy has some cabins at Dam Neck and some more at First Landing State Park, but they are probably already sold out. The realtor my family always used for vacation rentals is Atkinson Realty; their office is on Atlantic Avenue and they handle a lot of local properties. I hve lived here off and on for 30 years, so feel free to PM me if you need more information.

I know this is really last minute, but our ride from the Norfolk Airport fell through.  Would anyone be interested/available to pick us up mid/late morning 4/11/14 and take us to our daughter's apartment in Virginia Beach.  I certainly understand if no one can do it.

This may not exactly apply to homecoming but it's good for you and your sailors to know about!  

MWR at Little Creek and  Oceana/Dam Neck rents campers from 16' (sleeps four) to 31' (sleeps eight), kayaks, and more for very reasonable rates -http://www.discovermwr.com/thingstodo/equipmentrental.html 

also recreational lodging:  vacation rentals from cabins to cottages to town homes; RV spots and tent camping sites - http://www.discovermwr.com/thingstodo/navygetaways.html

MarianneKT's Mom  I friend requested you about possibly helping you out tomorrow with a ride.  Sorry so late but just saw this.

Cindy D, FWIW . . . here's where we stayed a couple of years ago for my son's homecoming. It was December so the pool wasn't open and we didn't spend a lot of time at the beach but it looked nice.

Thank you Donna Lassiter Collins for asking your son Stephen to help us out with a ride. It was so nice to finally meet him after he and Katie were in BootCamp together 5+ years ago!

I don't have to worry about this for awhile, but since homecomings are being discussed, how do we get notification of date changes? If they change a date with short notice and mail takes several weeks, how do you know since nothing can be discussed via email or phone? This is my son's first deployment, so I'm yet to figure it all out.

Thanks for all of the good tips on where to stay. I will check them out. Tracy, I would suggest to be sure to be in contact with your ship FRG or Ombudsman..

We are on those lists. However, they said the only information will be face to face at FRG meetings in Norfolk (which are impossible for us to attend). My question is if there would happen to be a change in the date, how do we get that information from my son when mail takes several weeks?

Tracy, are you in touch with your Ombudsman?  Email them and explain your concerns, they'll explain how you'll be updated.  I live in AZ and attended a Norfolk homecoming, and the Ombudsman Team was great about everything.

I have a question for those who have been through a deployment. I know it's quite aways off but the family was talking today about who all plans to drive out there and the question came up. Is there a limit to the number of people who can get on the pier for the homecoming?

I did not go out for the leaving but did for homecoming. My son gave a list to the ombudsman for the ship and we got one gate pass to get to the pier. We had three but there were whole families there. 

Calirose, when I went to Norfolk for the USS Iwo Jima homecoming they came in about an hour earlier than they'd estimated (10 rather than 11) so yes, it's good to be early!  The FB page at https://www.facebook.com/UssBulkeleyddg84/timeline says several ships are coming in the same day, so I'd err on the early side and be there at least two hours earlier than the estimated arrival time.  There's a McDonald's near the piers so you can get a coffee or whatever  :)  It's pretty cool mingling with the other families and checking out the creative banners so you won't be bored!  Have you made a banner or bringing a pre-made one?

Most people I saw just made theirs from poster board and markers and they were the most fun :)  I have always wondered what happened to the marriage proposal!  

Heads up, Moms.  Please tell your sailor that when (NOT IF) their car is towed in Norfolk, to please make sure they check their bank account.  My sailor's roomie had car towed and two days later had fraudulent charges on bank account.  Last week, my sailor had car towed and guess what.....fraudulent charges.   Just sharing this to remind our sailors to watch their accounts.  Navy Federal is good about calling for suspicious activity.

I can't go into any details.  But if anyone one could put out prayers for my sailor and his wife I would appreciate the support.

Prayers for your sailor and his wife.

May all of you have a Blessed Easter!!!

   "I Love My Jesus--today, tomorrow, forever!!!

BReady thanks for the support

To the USS Truman folks here - Norfolk photographer Laura Enright is trying to locate this family so she can share with them this wonderful family portrait she caught during homecoming on April 18.  Here's her heartwarming blog post about it:  http://www.lauraenrightphotography.com/truman-homecoming-help-me-fi...

And here's the photo - hopefully someone here recognizes them!  Thanks :)

HELP - Can anyone recommend or suggest roads / routes to take or avoid going east to Norfolk from Michigan / Ohio area? My son flew home and will be driving his truck back for the first time. This Navy mom is a bit nervous... Thanks

Singingbird - thank you so much for all this detailed info on the route! I also posted this question on my FB page and several have suggested this route but the detail if very helpful. Have a great day!

For those who are in Norfolk or familiar with the area, how close is the Portsmouth area to base? I've been looking at hotels for homecoming time (even though it's quite awhile from now), and there seems to be hotels in so many different areas when you do a search. And of course every travel site gives different mileage from each hotel to base. What would be the best area to stay in without having to drive so far every time we go to the base?