USS Zumwalt sailor returns home to Pascagoula

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - Navy sailors travel all over the world and rarely do they make port in their hometown. USS Zumwalt’s Lt. Mark Humes is enjoying the once in a lifetime experience.

Onboard the destroyer, he is the strike officer, in control of the Vertical Launch System and Tomahawk Missiles. He is also a Navy Academy graduate and a graduate of Pascagoula High School. His time onboard the Zumwalt has taken him all over the world.

“We visited Japan, we visited Guam and we also visited Hawaii,” he said. “That was actually the ship’s first maiden deployment. When we pulled into Japan; we were the hottest thing out there. The ship is a unique ship and it’s extremely beautiful.”

Now, the Zumwalt is docked in a special place -- Humes’s home.

“When I saw the landmarks, I saw the shipyard, I saw the Highway 90 bridge going across the Pascagoula River, I saw Chevron, it’s just -- it just brought in a whole bunch of nostalgia. Like, wow! It was one of those special moments in my life,” he said.

On a much smaller boat, his mom and Navy-veteran dad watched as their son sailed home.

“She was out there, she had the balloons. She was extremely excited just to see her son pull in,” said Humes. “I haven’t been her in two years. They were just extremely proud. Especially my dad, coming as a navy chief and seeing me pull the ship in to the town we live in, to the town I graduated from, to the town that really bred me and made me into the leader and man I am.”

Humes hopes his journey will inspire others to work for their dreams.

“You can achieve anything that you want and this is a special place to be bred from. We’ve had a lot of graduates even from Pascagoula High School -- and from the Gulf Coast -- that have been successful. Just be proud of where you come from and remember there have been a lot of people before you that have done amazing things that are from here.”

Click here to subscribe to WLOX News on YouTube: Keep up with South Mississippi news, sports, and local events on our YouTube channel!

Copyright 2023 WLOX. All rights reserved.