"I would have stayed awake four days to meet the President."
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Those who were there will never forget it, it's the event of a lifetime.
http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/front2003/lincolnhomecoming050203_2003.shtml Bush visit adds to USS Lincoln excitement#AP
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Still giddy after a visit from President Bush, thousands of war-weary sailors set about packing up and preparing to once again touch dry land after more than nine months at sea.
Some 2,500 sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln who gathered on the flight desk of the aircraft carrier cheered wildly Thursday as Bush told them they were "homeward bound" after one of the longest carrier deployments in recent U.S. military history.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Delphine Djossou, 28, of Washington, D.C., who later shared a table with the president during dinner said she was too excited to touch her meal of steak, lobster, crab and shrimp.
"I didn't eat anything. I talked the whole time," said the sailor.
Djossou and others said they were surprised by how down-to-earth Bush seemed. Petty Officer 1st Class Will Harthoorn, 41, of Stockton, Calif., recalled the president telling him he fixes coffee for his wife every morning, the same ritual Harthoorn said he follows when he's home.
"He goes and makes his wife a cup of coffee every morning. He said that is the most important thing you need to do," Harthoorn said the president told him.
Petty Officer 1st Class Theodore Morales, 37, of Tucson, Ariz., indicated he couldn't wait to share the memory of having a meal with a Bush with his 7-week-old son, Chance.
"Maybe one day he'll say 'Hey, my dad met the commander in chief,'" he said.
Chance was one of 150 babies born to fathers away on the Lincoln, a point not lost on Bush during his speech. "Your families are proud of you and your nation will welcome you," he said.
Many of the 5,000 sailors said it will be some time before they forget their last day away from port, and several praised Bush for making it special.
"It's like when you thought everybody forgot about you," said Djossou. "He came out here and made everything better because he didn't forget."
After dinner, some of the excitement over the presidential visit was replaced by the anticipation of arriving home. Sailors packed up their clothes and computers and lined up at phones to make last-minute arrangements to meet loved ones.
Airman Denise Burt, 23, of Grand Rapids, Mich., won't be among the ones leaving the ship in San Diego on Friday, however. She is part of the crew that will return the carrier to its home port of Everett, Wash., in a few days.
She hopes it won't be so long that her 13-month-old daughter, Amaya, forgets her.
"I sent an e-mail picture of myself and they told me she tried to grab it out of the computer," she said. "I guess that means she knows me."
What is it they call sleeping quarters on an aircraft carrier, berthing spaces? I not sure what berthing is but there isn't much sleeping done with all the traffic in and out and noise of 24/7 flight ops.