The sailors are in town. I was out in town for a coaches' appreciation dinner Wednesday night and saw them in all their glory.
The USS Kitty Hawk is here for a five day shore leave. In November, they were scheduled to come to Hong Kong for Thanksgiving, but just as they were sailing in, China said that they hadn't followed the proper procedures and wouldn't let them in. Spouses and families had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with the sailors, but they were all disappointed and the sailors spent Thanksgiving at sea.Analysts suggested that the snub of the carrier was because Congress had just given the Dalai Lama its highest civilian honor. But early this year, China let the USS Nimitz battle group with its nuclear reactor, warheads and thousands of sailors to come for a shore leave. This week Kitty Hawk got to come to town after all with its 5000 sailors, cruiser Shiloh and destroyers Curtis Wilbur, Stethem and Lassen.
Tomorrow is the torch run. I'm sure that George Bush saying that, of course he's going to the Opening Ceremony and general US support of the Olympics has nothing to do with the Kitty Hawk's shore leave. Or does it?
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