Coast Guard cutter returns after assisting in Bahamas

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Resolute returned to sector St. Pete Thursday morning.

78 crew members spent two months patrolling the Caribbean, and was also one of the first vessels to help during the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

As the ship pulled up to dock, families of the officers on board couldn’t hold still.

“I’m excited that my dad is coming home,” one child told FOX 13 while jumping up and down.

For Ensign Rachel Lawes, this was her first mission, and one she won’t forget.

“It felt good, it felt really good,” Lawes said. “We were just refueling helicopters, we weren’t exactly on the land so we couldn’t see our impact right away, but then the helicopters would call back and say, ‘Hey, we saved fifty plus people!,' so it feels good.”

During their patrol, they also seized $4 million worth of cocaine and safely returned Haitian and Dominican migrants to their countries.