Hilton Head Island nurse, Navy husband unite after historic deployment
Navy Petty Officer Tyler Lott and his wife, Cheri, shared a joyous moment Saturday afternoon after he returned from a seven-month deployment aboard a submarine that had to spend 137 days in open water due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USS Newport News docked at the Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Va., just after 2 p.m. carrying 160 people on board.
It had left Norfolk Dec. 19.
Three months later, the pandemic hit.
To avoid the risk of coronavirus, the ship received a rare “at-sea replenishment” during its 137 days underway.
“My proudest moment during deployment was our resupply at sea,” said Tyler Lott, a Machinist’s Mate (Nuclear) Second Class in a press release. “It was an expertly coordinated and executed effort, and we got the much needed supplies to continue our mission. I was proud to play my small role in this success.”
Afterwards, it pulled into Diego Garcia Naval Support Facility in the Indian Ocean for its sole stop, with limitations in place to ensure no one on crew caught the virus.
While at sea, USS Newport News reached the milestone of 1,000 dives.
For Hilton Head Island native Cheri Lott, the last several months have been extremely stressful without him. A traveling nurse, she has been taking care of COVID-19 patients at Hilton Head Regional Hospital during her husband’s deployment and said the experience has been a “growing period” for her.
“I am so blessed that he’s coming home,” she said in an interview before the ship docked. “At least the stress of him being deployed will be gone.”
The Lotts were married only three months when Tyler had to deploy.
Although they have kept in contact via email during his time at sea, she said she is looking forward to getting to know each other again as a married couple.
“Being isolated, not being able to be around friends, that was really hard,” she said.
The Lotts will be living in Norfolk until they move to a naval base in Groton, Conn.
Cheri said she knows that what they can do together right now is limited by the pandemic, but she is looking forward to simply spending time with her husband.
“I just want to run up and hug him and give him a big kiss,” she said. “There’s always some crying. I know he’s going to want to see our dog.”
This story was originally published July 18, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
