Sailors rejoin families after war cruise
USS Paul Hamilton returns home after nine months at sea
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Seaman Joshua Haberman meets his son for the first time Saturday.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (CNN) -- After almost nine months at sea, including a month of war, nearly 350 sailors from the USS Paul Hamilton were reunited Saturday with family and friends as the ship returned to its home port.
Hula dancers were at the dock to greet the sailors, who began disembarking at Pearl Harbor about 8:30 a.m. [2:30 p.m. EDT].
"It's a great sight to finally see Hawaii after nine months," said Ensign Andrew Roy. "I think we were out there and we made a difference, and it's good to have the support of everybody back at home."
The Paul Hamilton, a 505-foot destroyer, was part of the battle group of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which was deployed in the Persian Gulf before and during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its sailors had been away from home since August.
Before the war, the Paul Hamilton had been helping enforce economic sanctions on Saddam Hussein's regime by inspecting cargo ships at sea. During the conflict, more than 50 cruise missiles were launched from the ship.
-- CNN correspondent Kyra Phillips contributed to this report.
