OFF THE WIRE
By Mark Heaslet
NBCSanDiego.com
Members of the Peleliu Amphibious Group are enjoying their Sunday on dry land.
After a seven-month deployment, the group returned home Saturday to hundreds of friends and family who awaited their arrival on the dock at Naval Base San Diego.
Many of those waiting for their loved ones were ecstatic.
"I can't believe it's here," said Kim Kierman, whose husband works as a federal agent aboard the ship. "Seven months ago, [I was] standing on this pier crying my eyes out for a different reason."
For two sisters, the separation was unbearable.
"We're twins, so it's different," said Tiffany Shackle. "It's hard. It's a lot harder. I'm happy that she's home though."
The ships carried just over 17-hundred sailors who were deployed to the Western Pacific. On Friday, about 22-hundred marines from the group offloaded at Camp Pendleton.
The group is made up of USS Peleliu, USS Dubuque and USS Pearl Harbor.
