well well.


again i have the chance to tell stories.

almost two months in and we've done a lot. to start where i left off from last time...
after Greece we went to Jorden and dropped the Marines off so they could do their stuff. then we transited down to the Red Sea, patrolled around and queried merchant ships. our main goal was to weed out the smugglers and pirates. we didnt come across any, so thats good.

a week or so into it, we got the news about Isreal attacking Lebanon, and about all the Americans that were in the war zone.

then just a couple days ago, we got the message to transit up to Beyruit, Lebanon to help in the evacution of Americans from the area. we turned around, picked up the Marines, headed north, and thursday morning we pulled up to the coast of Beyruit. we launched our LCU, and all day she went back and forth from the beach and our well deck, filled with civilians. at the end of the day, we had evacuated 1052 people.
we then transited up to Cypress, and here i am now. at this moment we are working to get the evacuees off the ship and onto shore to saftey. after all this is done we plan to stock up on some food and supplies, and head back out to Lebanon for more evacuating.

this whole thing is a lot of work, but its really cool. i feel like i am actually doing something that really matters. theres a ton of media coverage of the ship and crew, since we are the firt US ship to aid in the evacuating. CNN sent some reporters to stay on the ship through the whole ordeal, for interviews and in-depth coverage. its very bad ass. we are definetly making history!

i can rest easy tonight...