A South Philadelphia family welcomed home Master-at-Arms Second Class Santino Roccuzzo on Saturday after he spent 322 days at sea on the USS Lincoln.
The USS Lincoln arrived in San Diego Bay earlier this month after undergoing the second-longest amount of time overseas for a U.S. ship since the Vietnam War. The aircraft carrier played a key role in the Iran War and made national headlines for having eight suicide attempts while on deployment.
“Being home, it’s unbelievable,” Roccuzzo said. “I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot better than where I was at. The food, the people, the love, the affection, the care, the passion, the emotion. Everything is beautiful. I love it. I’m feeling amazing. I’m having a great time.”
A portion of 12th Street was shut down for the homecoming block party on Saturday night, where the Roccuzzo’s got to celebrate with the community that they value so much.
“I’m not surprised. South Philly has been amazing to us, to her, my family, the Roccuzzo’s, in general. I grew up here, raised here, born here. South Philly can never be topped. You find another city, another state, you let me know. South Philly, it can never be beat.”
And, although many people were happy to see Roccuzzo, no one was as happy as Shawn Gallo-Roccuzzo, Santino’s mother.
“I call Santino the baby of the family. I call him my breath, and I was literally holding my breath for 11 months,” she said of Santino’s deployment. “I didn’t know what was going on. You hear things, you see things.”
But when the USS Lincoln finally returned to San Diego Bay, Shawn took off her shoes and ran into her son’s arms.
“I was like oh boy here she comes. I had to catch her. It was a good feeling,” Santino said. “It was really good to feel that love again.”
