On Capitol Hill, the story of the beleaguered USS Abraham Lincoln has sparked lawmakers to demand answers from the Trump administration and Pentagon about how they have deployed service members in the pursuit of ambiguous goals in their war against Iran. But across the country, the fate of those aboard has also fired up Americans, many with no direct connection to those who have been serving on the aircraft carrier.
The conditions for the 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Lincoln, first reported by MS NOW, has dominated the news cycle for weeks and captured the attention of both the country and the international community.
Kortez Hopkins, an Army veteran in Atlanta, knows firsthand the hardships of deployment. Through connections in the Kappa Lambda Chi military fraternity, Hopkins heard stories about the shortage of supplies aboard the USS Michael Murphy, a destroyer that was part of the USS Lincoln’s carrier strike group and has been deployed since late last year. Those stories inspired Hopkins to launch what he called “Operation Uplift,” a fundraising effort to boost sailors’ morale via care packages of personal necessities. Hopkins has received donations of bottled water, flashlights, snacks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and other toiletries that he said are “simple things that we take for granted at home.” He has also received monetary donations and is accepting both forms of donations until Aug. 31.
Hopkins felt it important that the 300 sailors aboard the USS Murphy know that there are people around the world who care for them and want to make sure they’re all right.
“I am definitely hoping that it will uplift them a little bit, give them more of that morale,” Hopkins said.
With no date set for the USS Murphy to return to its home port in Hawaii, Hopkins said he’s “trying to build that morale back up and let them know that they’re not out there on their own, and there are people around the world that do care and want to make sure that they are good and make it back home.”
Not everybody in the military has family, Hopkins noted.
“Being able to send these items, even post a little note inside of the care packages that you are sending,” he said, “just to let them know that it’s plenty of people out here that care about you, no matter what it is that you may be thinking or what you have going on.”
In Nevada, the Nevada Veterans fund packed 75 “morale boxes” full of supplies, such as hygiene products and snacks, to send to the sailors and Marines on the USS Lincoln, as well as the carriers USS George Washington, which replaced the USS Lincoln in the Middle East, and USS George H.W. Bush, which is also deployed in the region.
Levy Shultz, a veteran and the president and founder of the Nevada Veterans Fund, emphasized how care packages helped him when he was deployed and how he saw a similar need for basic supplies among the USS Lincoln’s service members, who have not set foot on land this year. Shultz remarked that because of the sacrifices sailors make, they shouldn’t have to endure without basic supplies like body wash and deodorant.
Shultz said his organization was expecting to pack around 30 boxes but ended up with enough donations to pack 75. The organization plans to continue gathering donations for boxes to future aircraft carriers that deploy to the Middle East, which could face similar supply shortages.
Elsewhere, organizations like Blue Star Families are working to connect military families with their neighbors, emphasizing that a strong sense of community can offer support during deployments.
“Although our military families are resilient, they are still going through a lot of changes and missed birthdays and holidays, and they don’t have to do this alone,” said Maggie Meza, executive director of the Blue Star Families San Diego chapter.
“We can all step in and do our part by supporting them in any way,” said Meza, suggesting that community members can do their part to help by recognizing military families in their neighborhoods and asking how they can provide aid through supporting organizations like Blue Star Families and by donating and volunteering.
While only 6% of the American population has ever worn a military uniform, according to a 2023 study conducted by Pew, the stories of the service members and families affected by the ongoing war with Iran has prompted people, in some cases with no connection to the military or the war, to speak out.
One Ohio factory worker is calling for the public to gather anywhere along the 3,000-mile span of the Lincoln National Memorial highway, which stretches from New York City to San Francisco, on Aug. 30 to show support for the USS Lincoln’s crew, according to The Journal Gazette.
Across the country, chapters of the Visibility Brigade, a group that says it aims to “create awareness about our national crisis on overpasses and other public spaces,” have focused some of their messaging campaigns on the USS Lincoln.
Visibility Brigade chapters have put up signs of “bring our sailors home” or “bring the USS Lincoln home” on overpasses from coast to coast, in places like San Diego and Lemoore, California; Indianapolis and Lenexa, Kansas, in the midwest; and in Hartford, Connecticut, and Virginia on the East Coast.
Some overpass signs call out the poor conditions reported on the USS Lincoln, with messages like “our troops deserve better” in Yorktown Heights and Pelham, New York; Portland, Maine; Enfield, New Hampshire; and Malvern, Pennsylvania; and “stop mistreating our troops” in Dubuque, Iowa. A sign reading “Trump DN [does not] care but we do” with “humane conditions for sailors” written below appeared on an overpass in Oakland, California.
Others, like one in Mt. Vernon, Virginia, have encouraged passersby to “be brave like USS Lincoln sailors.”
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., posted on Facebook a photo of a sign on a San Diego overpass that read, “Prez puts sailors in dire strait.”
A sandcastle sculpted by Bill Pavlacka, known on social media as “the sandcastle man,” has attracted attention in Coronado Beach, California, with its message “USS Abraham Lincoln, we love you! Come home soon.”
Since the United States and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran in February, 50,000 service members have received orders to support Operation Epic Fury, and 18 Americans have died amid the hostilities and hundreds more have been injured. Additionally, 1,300 dependents of service members were evacuated from the Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, according to NPR.
The USS Lincoln is finally on its way home after a record-setting deployment of 208 continuous days at sea with no port calls.
The post ‘Stop mistreating our troops’: Support builds for returning USS Abraham Lincoln sailors appeared first on MS NOW.
