Coast Guard buoy tender crew makes it back to homeport

HONOLULU -- Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Randall Meek, command chief aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Walnut, a 225-foot Juniper Class Buoy Tender based in Honolulu, hugs his granddaughter for the first time in six months at the Hotel Pier on Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Nov. 19, 2010. The Walnut's crew returned Nov. 19 from a 173-day oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico where they collected a total of 270,000 gallons of oil along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael De Nyse

For other photos from this event, please click the links below.

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