HONOLULU, June 8 (UPI) -- The aircraft carrier that buried Osama bin Laden's body at sea arrived in Hawaii after a six-month deployment to Asia and the Middle East, officials said.
The USS Carl Vinson arrived at Pearl Harbor Tuesday morning where it will stay for four days before returning to its home base in San Diego, KITV, Honolulu, reported.
The carrier was in the North Arabian Sea last month when it received a Navy SEAL team carrying the body of bin Laden.
The body was placed in a weighted bag on the carrier, put on a board and tipped into the sea as an officer made religious remarks, the Pentagon has said.
Rear Adm. Samuel Perez, commander of Strike Group 1, praised the carrier's crew for its handling of the operation.
"Our crew has taken it with the solemnity that was required and they conducted that mission in a manner that I think brings pride and credit to the United States," Perez said.
The event affected crew members in different ways, he said.
"For some, it's just another mission. For others that had more personal ties to September 11, I think it had deeper meaning. And that's something each of us has to wrap our arms around individually," Perez said.
