Military muscle cruises into port
FORT LAUDERDALE — Ryan Kerce perched on rocks along the inlet, his arms outstretched toward the sky in honor of the majestic warship passing by.
Behind him, the USS Wasp, a massive and mighty amphibious assault ship carrying 1,100 sailors and Marines, steamed past toward Port Everglades for Monday’s start of the annual celebration known as Fleet Week.
“I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to see this,” said Kerce, 21, of Coral Springs. “It’s awesome!”
Plantation resident Tom Laboda has been coming to the same spot for 15 years now to see the annual parade of warships. On Monday, he waved to the sailors and Marines standing at at- tention on the flight deck of the Wasp.
“To see the guys lined up there on deck is pretty impressive,” Laboda said.
The entire fleet — guided missile destroyers USS Cole and USS James E. Williams, the USS New Hampshire submarine and Miami-based U.S. Coast Guard cutter Richard Etheridge — will be docked at Port Everglades through Sunday.
Their crews (more than 1,500 sailors, 250 Marines and 25 Coast Guardsmen) will descend on South Florida to party, relax and spread cheer with goodwill visits to hospitals and nursing homes.
“Fleet Week is a great opportunity for us to tell the sea service story and help the public learn what we do for our country,” said Admiral Cynthia Thebaud, U.S. Navy commander of the Wasp and Expeditionary Strike Group 2.
Sailor Jose Jimenez, of San Antonio, Texas, said he planned to work on relaxing during his leave.
“I have some pasty white skin on me,” he said from aboard the Wasp on Monday. “I’ll probably go to the beach and get a tan.”
Jimenez, whose wife and baby daughter are back home in Norfolk, Va., has also signed up for a community service mission that will see him building a Habitat for Humanity house. sbryan@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4554