Military Veterans Affairs Office executive director Ruth Coleman told the Variety in a telephone interview that this is the second time that the USS Reuben James has visited Saipan.
The ship arrived here on Nov. 24 and will be leaving today.
“The ship was here sometime in 2006. The Military Veterans Office welcomed the crewmembers of the USS Reuben James at the VFW on Tuesday,” Coleman said.
She added that yesterday the Saipan Chamber of Commerce welcomed the crew members to the “Adopt a Sailor” program.
“This program gives the community a chance to invite sailors into their homes and for the sailors to get a real feel of the island by visiting local homes,” Coleman said.
She said that the USS Reuben James is the first military ship to visit Saipan this month.
USS Reuben James has 215 crewmembers under commanding officer Joseph Naman.
The ship, which is home ported at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, is the third vessel of the U.S. Navy named for Reuben James (1775-1838), a boatswain’s mate who distinguished himself fighting the Barbary pirates.
From July 2002 to April 2003, the ship was deployed to the Arabian Gulf and participated in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. From February to April 2004, she deployed to the Eastern Pacific in support of counter-drug operations.
USS Reuben James appeared in the movie “The Hunt For Red October,” and was the first ship to find Soviet Submarine Captain Marko Raimius and his crew of defectors.
