Desiree Fernstrom had been on shore less than 24 hours after a 290-day deployment on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The first stop for the 20-year-old ship storekeeper Wednesday: Picking up her new car, a Chevrolet Cavalier.
Fernstrom said little, but the look on her face as she walked out the front entrance of Everett Chevrolet to get her first glimpse of her first-ever new car left little for words to say.
"Look at that million-dollar smile," said Fernstrom’s grandmother, Nancy Crouse of Lake Geneva, Wis., who had flown out with Fernstrom’s mother and father for the Lincoln’s return Tuesday.
"Cool-looking car, Desiree," said her father, Don Fernstrom, who, as the owner of a towing service in McHenry, Ill., has broad experience in judging cars.
"Oh, is that a pretty blue," said her mother, Yonne Bullard of Twin Lakes, Wis., who brought along a video camera to capture the moment.
The color choice could have been taken from a Hollywood movie script: arrival blue.
"My daughter did this all on her own," her dad said. "She purchased the car, and she’s paying for it."
Tim Fuller, sales operations manager, said the car is one of 22 vehicles ordered by Lincoln sailors from the ship. The special Navy vehicle-purchase program is designed for personnel who are ordered overseas. The local dealer is paid a delivery fee for each vehicle.
Now that the ship has returned, Navy personnel have been making appointments to car shop for traditional purchases. Two sailors already have bought vehicles off the showroom floor, Fuller said, and more appointments are scheduled for today and Friday.
Fuller, who previously worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, said he knew a little about what it feels like to be marooned on a boat far from home.
"I know about spending four to five weeks on a boat — never 10 months like they did," he said of the sailors on the Lincoln.
Fernstrom’s dad contacted Fuller last week to wrap up last-minute details.
"Being a father myself, I could just relate to this guy and his excitement," Fuller said. "This is his daughter’s first deployment overseas, the first time away from home on her birthday and on Christmas. That’s a real big deal."
Fernstrom joined the Navy in May 2001. Her father described her job as "a paper pusher stuck down in a cubicle in the bottom of the boat."
"Real glamorous job," he joked, "but somebody’s got to do it."
His daughter said the long deployment and close quarters were enough to strain even the best of friendships. But one of her best memories was being selected to eat dinner with President Bush near the end of the cruise.
Wednesday morning, she wasn’t sure what her first trip in her new car would be after the perfunctory trip to get it licensed.
About six hours later, when asked if his daughter had settled on where she would go, her dad said: "She sure did. They’re out shopping now."
It’s a temporary taste of freedom. She’s scheduled to report back to duty on the ship at 7 a.m. today.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
