EVERETT, Wash. -- After nearly 10 months at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to its homeport Tuesday morning, greeted by a delirious crowd of thousands waving signs of welcome, blowing kisses and carrying yellow ribbons and red, white and blue balloons.

EYE ON IRAQ Survey: Optimistic About War? Link: 4,000 Deaths Detailed Link: U.S. War Deaths Compared Slideshow: Baghdad Sandstorm Patrol Slideshow: Iraq, Five Years Later Interactive: The Road Ahead Full Coverage: War In Iraq

Video

New Fathers, First Kisses

First off were the 87 new dads, whose babies were born while they were at sea.

Fire Controlman Antonio Myers, 25, carrying two bunches of red roses, ran into the arms of his wife, Tameka, and gave her a big kiss. Then he grabbed his 4-month-old son, Amiri.

"What up?" Myers asked his wide-eyed baby boy, who blinked at this strange new fellow in the crush of happy families at Naval Station Everett.

"It was tough when we found out he got extended, but me and the neighbors, we just tried to hold together and tough it out. And here we are," said his wife, accompanied by her two older children, 9-year-old Tyshawna and 6-year-old Joseph. Like the others introducing dad to new offspring, Tameka wore a baby-bottle-shaped button identifying her as "New Mom 38."

Another new dad, Martin Finnegan, 27, an electronics technician 3rd class, basked in the company of his fiancee, 22-year-old Jessica Fitzhugh, and their baby girl Rylee, just three weeks old.

Finnegan said he got to shake President Bush's hand when the commander in chief visited the Lincoln last week. That was a thrill, he said, "but it doesn't hold a lamp to Jessica and Rylee."

Like many of the nuclear-power aircraft carrier's 3,000 crew, he's headed for three weeks of leave. But he's already looking ahead to the work that will follow.

"You see this ship? How dirty she is? We've got to get her cleaned up," Finnegan said.

The Lincoln was just seven days out of Everett last July when 22-year-old Christina Mann, a cook on board, learned she was pregnant last July. She was flown home to have the baby and her fiance, 27-year-old Machinist Mate Erich Cress, remained on board.

But he was able to talk her through labor from the carrier when baby Emma Hasbah Cress was born April 1. Waiting for him dockside Tuesday, Mann said she was "so happy to see him, I feel numb."

Among those making long trips to be in Everett for the homecoming were Mayquel Valverde, 26, and his wife. The couple traveled from Beebe, Ark. to welcome home Mayquel's brother Carlos, 28, a dental hygienist on the ship.

"I haven't seen my brother for almost a year," Mayquel Valverde said. "I'm thrilled to see him again. Thank God nothing happened to him."

The Lincoln's crew "just did a fantastic job in Operation Iraqi Freedom," said U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash. "The air war was critical to getting this done in three weeks, dropping 1.6 million pounds of ordnance and degrading enemy divisions. ... It made it a lot easier for the Army and Marine Corps on the ground."

"The women and men serving on the USS Lincoln honorably responded to the call of duty," said U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. "I am proud of the job they have done. They deserve recognition and our thanks."

The 1,100-foot ship left Everett on July 20 for a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf in support of the global war on terrorism. It was headed home in December, then in January, received orders to turn around and head back to the Gulf.

It ended up being one the longest deployments of a nuclear-powered carrier since Vietnam.

During the war in Iraq, more than 1,600 sorties were flown from the Lincoln. The carrier's battle group fired 116 Tomahawk missiles. No aircraft or Navy personnel were lost.

The Lincoln was one of five carrier battle groups that launched air and missile strikes against Iraq during the war. It was relieved by the USS Nimitz on April 10 and renewed its journey home.

Bush swooped in on an S-3B Viking jet for an on-deck visit with the Lincoln's crew last Thursday, where he declared that the heaviest combat in Iraq was over and called the country's military missions there a success.

The Lincoln docked in San Diego the following day, where about 1,500 sailors got off the ship. It began its journey home to Everett on Saturday.

The Lincoln's return came one day after a supply ship in its battle group, the USS Camden, pulled into its home port in Bremerton.

The five other ships in the Lincoln's battle group also have returned home: the USS Mobile Bay and USS Shiloh, two missile cruisers based in San Diego; as well as the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, the missile frigate USS Rueben James and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Cheyenne, all based in Pearl Harbor.