Proud Navy mom of 1 daughters,

I just read that you have a daughter stationed on the Truman. So I thought I'd let you know that my husband and I are in Virginia Beach/Norfolk, VA and we have been opening our home on the weekends and inviting Sailors over for the last 18 years. We get together on Saturday evenings at 5:00 for dinner and board games, minigolf , bowling, and other activities. On Sunday we get together at 1:00 for a family style meal . We would like to invite your daughter to join us/ Please check out out page on this site to find out more about us.

Yvonne and John

Hello all. Just wanted to thank all of you for listening when I needed you. Our son is home for good now and has a great job using what he learned in the NAVY. We are proud of his service and very happy he is back home. I will continue to pray for all who serve our country.  God Bless ~Allie

allie - good luck to your son in his next adventure ~ and please thank him for his service!

My son is getting ready to be sent to his ship on his first deployment. He will be gone at least 4-5 months.   He is nervous but excited.  I am nervous and excited for him, but I also I am having a hard time not being able to hear from him on a limited basis.  Does any experienced Moms have any advice?

Missy, I sent you a friend request just now. We have had many sailors who come over to our home on the weekends go on deployment and the best way to stay in touch is through email. Except when they pull into a port. Then they can call or text.

Sending care packages and cards and letters are a great way for you to stay in touch with your sailor. There is a group on this site called Care packages.. Check it out. It will help you get ideas of what to include in the care packages you send. Be sure to get his mailing address on the ship. :)

Enjoy this new adventure!

Yvonne and John

Hello, I just joined as my son has his "soft" orders and will be headed to Norfolk from GC, SC. He is finishing Prototype. We are trying to figure out how to navigate moving his vehicle from Goose Creek to Norfolk, before he actually has to report there for duty. It is a shorter trip from GC to VA, than to our home in the Midwest and back to the East coast. Any suggestions?

He did hear from his sponsor this evening, but was actually headed out to another 12 hour shift, so that will have to wait. This may just be a question for them.

John & Yvonne - maybe my son will have a chance to come visit you on a weekend off if he is in port.

I drove my sailor’s car to Norfolk and flew home via Southwest Airlines.  I’m not sure if there are other methods. 

Wiffer peanut - Thanks! 

That would be great Chipmunk!  We can pm you our cell number if he would like to get in touch with us. :)

Yvonne and John

John and Yvonne - Thank you very much! I will pm you, when we are closer to that possibility. Currently, I have "boots in the house" while we enjoy some leave time with our sailor. Yesterday was my birthday and he was able to arrive home in time to celebrate with us last night.

Wiffer peanut - thank you again for your suggestion with the transport. As it turned out we had some other friends in the nearby area that I reached out to and they were able to assist us. It is wonderful when we can call on our friends and loved ones to be extended family to our sailors. 

Chipmunk,

What wonderful news! How great to spend your birthday with your Sailor! Enjoy your time with him. :)

We look forward to hopefully meet him when he gets here.

Yvonne and John

By the way, Happy Belated Birthday Chipmunk!

Yvonne and John

Thank you!

Hi All,

My son, who is a Prev. Med. Corpsman, was recently assigned to the Comfort and will be going on his first deployment in 10 days. I am not a new Navy Mom as my son has been in for almost 6 years now, but I am new to the deployment part. Looking for others who have loved ones assigned to the Comfort as well.

louielou - there is a group for the Comfort - here's the link:  

USNS Comfort

It doesn't appear to be active but sometimes if you post in a group you can get some activity going - good luck!

Hi AnnieKay - try not to worry. He is most likely getting picked up by his sponsor who will take him to his ship or barracks. Once he gets settled he will be able to text you. My sailor was sent to Norfolk after A school on Labor Day Weekend on Sunday evening and he finally texted me late and said he was exhausted but fine. He just completed his service - you'll see, it will go by so fast you won't believe it. I worried a lot too but praying helped and being on this site talking with other moms.

AnnieKay - I 2nd what Larenw said.  He's probably trying to get so much stuff done right now - his head is probably spinning lol!  Hopefully he'll text you later tonight - maybe just send him a text saying "hey, I know you landed, just let me know you are ok!".

Hang in there!

AnnieKay,

Welcome to Norfolk Sailors! 

I sent you a friend request and sent a short message. My husband and I, for the last 19 years have been inviting Sailors over to our home on the weekends to give them a place to hang out. We feed them, play board games, watch movies, go mini golfing, and go to special events in the area. My husband retired from the Navy so we have a special place in our hearts for the Sailors. :)  We would love to invite your son over. If he is interested, we could pm you our cell # so he can get in touch with us. :)

Anyway, we hope to hear from you.

John and Yvonne

AnnieKay - glad to hear you finally had a message from your sailor. Mine has been in the Norfolk area for only a short bit himself. He is past the first week of INDOC, but now he is working on his online training, I think.

AnnieKay my son is on the USS FORD. Feel free to send me a friend request. I will reply when back home later and on my computer vs the phone.

Thanks AnnieKay!

You're welcome for the invitation. :) We really enjoy having the Sailors over. 

What ship is your son on?

Well, hope you have a great day!

 Yvonne and John

AnnieKay - My son has been able to call me in the late afternoon or early evening, but that is because he hasn't started his long shifts yet. Also, he has been more of a communicator than most of the sailors I hear about. 

AnnieKay - I haven't done FaceTime yet, but we have skype set up on our computers and utilize that a lot. When he is out on the ship, that will be different not to be able to see him occasionally. My son is still doing ship training and INDOC items because he said he hasn't started duty days yet. For him that means he has his weekends available for the time being.

I accepted your friend request and I was going to send you a pm, but it is getting late my time so I will try to send you a note soon.

Chipmunk,

If your son is free on the weekends, maybe he could come over next weekend or any weekend he is free. :)

Yvonne and John

John & Yvonne - thanks, I had not really thought about it. Yesterday was a rather busy day for us, and today as well. He did skype with his younger brother most of the day.

Chipmunk,

I'm sure his younger brother really was stoked to be able to skype with his 'big Navy brother'!

That's ok. I know you're busy. Maybe in the coming weeks you can let him know about us and we can pm you our cell number. :)

Have a blessed day!

Yvonne

AnnieKay - I did some searching on here and found the info I posted below.  Unfortunately it is from 2014! 

It might not be good info anymore since it's so old but you might luck out and get someone that can help/refer you to a current contact.  I'll keep looking.

And here's the link to the Bataan group on here:

USS Bataan

It hasn't been active in a while but sometimes when you start posting in a group you can get it going again.  Worth a try.  And you might find some helpful info in their discussion pages.  ;-D

AnnieKay: I found this page on navy.mil with some contacts listed: https://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/lhd5/Pages/ombudsmen.aspx

Hi AnnieKay,

My son is currently deployed and he was allowed to tell us.  I don't know if it depends on where and the situation but hopefully you will also be privy to that information from your son.

The Sailors who come over to our home on the weekends usually tell us. And they post pictures of the different ports they go to.

We don't say anything on our texts though. Hope that helps. 

Yvonne

AnnieKay - yes, your son can tell you in private.  You might also want to come up with some sort of "code" so when he deploys and wants to give you dates you can email without divulging anything.  For example he might say "we are expected back in 45 days after mom's birthday" or the dog's birthday - just something that you agree on before hand.  That way he doesn't say the exact date.  Homecomings/communication can be changed due to loose lips.

Does anyone know if there is a fireworks show on base? I was wanting to share the information with my sailor if I found out anything. Thanks!

Chipmunk,

None of the bases have fireworks, but there are many places that do. Fort Monroe is one of those places. We've been there and it's really a great show. Williamsburg has them also. Many of the cities here have them. Some on the night before.

Yvonne and John

Thank you for the suggestions!

Thankful to whoever stopped by to help my sailor with changing his tire after a blowout!!

That's awesome Chipmunk!

Yvonne

I just want to say thanks to John and Yvonne for hosting my sailor at their home the other day!  I would encourage anyone who has a single sailor in the area to reach out to them and connect your sailor with their hospitality. They invite the sailors over for games, movies, food, fellowship and some time of Bible and prayer. 

Our sailor's ship is being deployed from Norfolk.  Is family allowed to see the ship off?  Is there a place I can look up information on this?

Cat123 - I am not a veteran mom with regards to deployment, so I am only sharing my meager knowledge, but I would say that your sailor's ombudsman would be the one to give you this information. Your sailor should have that information, or you should be able to find it on the ship's website, maybe? Here is a link that describes the ombudsman's role.

https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/NNPTC/Ombudsman.aspx

Also, I believe your sailor has to give their ombudsman your contact information, so that they know they are able to share this sort of ship information with you. So, I would honestly ask your sailor, they should be able to give you the answer to your question.

Thank you; I appreciate the help!  I'll talk to my sailor.  This is all new to us.

Cat123 - You are welcome! This is all new to me as well, as our sailor just headed to the fleet earlier this summer after his training. My son acquired the information needed to share the ship's FB page with my husband (I don't do FB), and then he also had to give the ombudsman our contact information so that they would know it was okay to accept my husband on the FB page or to send communication to us.

Cat123 - you can see the ship off - the only problem is you would need military ID to get on base.  Sailors usually have a curfew the night before deployment so they can't get you on base.  Another option is to watch the deployment from Fort Monroe.  It's a National park so you have access to it.  Here's the link with some info on it:

https://www.nps.gov/fomr/index.htm

Also check Wavy 10 for Livestream - they may or may not show it - they usually do homecomings and I don't remember if they show them leaving.

Wavy 10 Livestream

B'sNukeMom - Thanks for sharing this information!

Thank you so much for all the help!  I am grateful that I have a home here--appreciate everything.

This was info I posted back in 2015 (on the Truman page) when my son's ship was getting ready for deployment.  It was the instructions we were given to get on the FRG mailing list for the newsletter.  I'm sure your son will have to do something similar.  He should get this done before they deploy.

***FRG NEWSLETTER***

Make sure your sailor has you set up to receive the FRG newsletter:

Your sailor will need to email a request from his/her CVN75 account with the following:

-Sailor's rate & department

-Sailor's PRD date

-Family member's name, email and relationship

-Family member's city of residence

Requests should be sent to: Communications.Trumanfrg@gmail.com

Both the Sailor and family member should receive a confirmation 1-3 days after the request is received.

***Remember dates cannot be shared in any public forum.  The FRG CAN NOT/WILL NOT share any info with you if you are not on the email list.  This is for your Sailor's protection.

If any of you have sailors that are assigned to the USS FORD, I would like to invite you to join our group - USS Gerald R. Ford CVN78 - if you can't find it, send me a friend request and then I can send you an invite to join it.