USS Mason returns home to Naval Station Mayport after a nine-month deployment

Hundreds of sailors aboard the USS Mason are back home and reunited with their families after a nine-month deployment.

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Tuesday, the Arleigh Burke Class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) returned to Naval Station Mayport for a long-awaited homecoming.

9 months felt like a lifetime for Jeanna Cox.

“Every day felt like you were just counting down the minutes, the seconds, the hours,” said Jeanna.

Jeanna said her husband Nathan left for deployment just 6 months after they got married.

And now her other half, along with hundreds of other navy sailors are back home.

The USS Mason docked at Mayport to a crowd full of excited faces.

The ship was deployed in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Mediterranean Sea, supporting freedom of navigation efforts and the free flow of global commerce.

Action News Jax learned in January that the USS Mason was involved in a defense mission involving commercial ships in the Red Sea.

While deployed, it faced attacks from the Houthi terrorist group based out of Yemen .

The Commanding Officer of the USS Mason said he was extremely proud of the crew on board.

“My crew has been extremely resilient,” said Cmdr. Justin Smith, Mason’s Commanding Officer.

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