Frank Buckley: Eager Stennis sailors head home

CNN's Frank Buckley

(CNN) -- About 5,000 U.S. sailors return to the home port of San Diego, California, on Tuesday after a six-month stint aboard the USS John C. Stennis as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

CNN Frank Buckley is aboard the carrier as it heads toward San Diego. He spoke to CNN on Tuesday.

BUCKLEY: The CNN engineers once again doing magic and giving us the ability to go live while we're at sea on the way into San Diego.

We are on the flight deck of the John C. Stennis as we steam toward a morning reunion with thousands of family members, some 12,000 family members are expected to be dockside to greet the 5,000 personnel of the USS John C. Stennis.

Most of the squadrons have already flown off. The only aircraft remaining are a few helicopters, the Seahawk and others, here for search and rescue, and also to get the last of the naval aviators off of this carrier. They will be leaving later this morning.

And it should be quite a day. The men and women of this ship have participated in some 10,600 sorties during Operation Enduring Freedom. That flight deck that we were on there, while we were in the Arabian Sea with the Stennis during Operation Enduring Freedom, was a very, as you can imagine, busy place. And the people who are responsible for taking care of that flight deck are here in what's known as the handler's office. This is a very busy spot, and this is where they sort of handle the flight deck.

They move these little pieces around. These are the actual helicopters that are on the flight deck right now. They keep track of what's next. This is the Alert 30 helicopter down here on the end of the runway. This is the helicopter that would have to lift off in the case of a search-and-rescue situation.

The night handler who is on duty is Carlos Carlos. We'd like to talk to you, Carlos, and ask you, you have been at sea now for more than six months. You were telling me your mother is coming in from El Paso to San Diego just to be there for you.

Tell me what, what it's going to be like for you to see your mom after all these months at sea.

CARLOS: Well, it's been a long time, and this is the longest I've been out at sea. This is the first time when she's actually going to be here. This is about my sixth ... and this is the first time she's going to be out here to see me come home.

BUCKLEY: This is, you know -- we talk about the sacrifices that the Navy men and women make, the Marines who are aboard the Stennis. You have missed six months of your life back at home -- birthdays, anniversaries, some, you know, all kinds of things. Tell me what is the most difficult part of being at sea during a wartime for so long.

CARLOS: I guess being able to talk to family when you have problems. My grandfather just died. My grandmother just died. Just things, you know, things like that, just having to put up with it out here, not being able to talk to family members about things like that. Just like things like that.

BUCKLEY: They say that more than 4 million e-mails were processed on this ship. Did that help at all?

CARLOS: Yes, it does. My mom, she really doesn't get much on the computer, so I don't talk much with her. By phone, seldom, you know, just whenever I get a chance.

BUCKLEY: All right, Carlos Carlos, thanks very much for your service and for talking to us this morning.

He's one of the people who will be coming home today to San Diego.