Navy sailors aboard USS Carl Vinson return home after 9-month deployment

SAN DIEGO (FOX5/KUSI) -- Thousands of sailors returned to San Diego on Thursday after the USS Carl Vinson docked at Naval Air Station North Island.

The sailors were met with excitement and hugs from loved ones who gathered on the base for the homecoming, including moments of genuine excitement as children waved at their parents.

For the Franco family, the homecoming was that much sweeter. Petty Officer First Class Franco stepped off the carrier to meet his 7-month-old daughter for the first time.

“I have no words to express. I didn’t know you’re kind of locked in, and to know I'm here with my wife, my kids…I, I have no words. I’m really just shook because we’ve been gone for so long," he said.

The carrier was deployed last November and was only supposed to be away for six months operating in the Pacific. In March, the Secretary of Defense ordered the Vinson to head to the Middle East, where it participated in missions like defending commerce.

Franco said it was challenging to be away when his daughter was born.

“This is one of those where this is what we signed up for, and I know in the long run it's all worthwhile because I am coming back to them," he said.

Franco’s wife, Rio, is also in the military and said it was hard in the beginning, but credited support from friends and family.

She said they’ve been through deployments before, but this was the longest they’ve been apart. She called the first embrace magical.

"You just can’t explain it. It just because it’s been so long that you haven’t seen each other—just felt each other’s hug so it’s like the moment you wait for," said Franco.

The first mission for the family now that they are reunited is to eat.

“And then family bonding, family and friends, some of them are waiting already," she said.