Service Members Meet Their Newborns for 1st Time After 6-Month Deployment
— -- Four service members on the USS Providence became first-time dads during their six-month deployment, and the new fathers finally got to meet their babies on Friday when they returned to the Groton, Connecticut, Submarine Base, according to ABC affiliate WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut.
One of those dads is 26-year-old Jeremy Castle. He was deployed in April and his son, Killian, was born May 23.
"I'm a very strong family person," Castle told ABC News. "And not being there with my wife ... was extremely difficult."
Castle said he cried the first time he saw a photo of Killian and carried the photos with him everywhere.
Today, on his second day at home, Castle told ABC News being back with his family is "probably one of the best feelings in the world."
Castle, who said he's thankful his wife has parenting already figured out and can teach him, is now looking to spend as much time with Killian as possible.
"It's amazing. It's hard to describe ... I think I stayed up all night just holding him and rocking him back and forth," Castle said.
Another first-time dad is 27-year-old Eric Gatchell, whose first child, a daughter named Grace, was born Sept. 7.
"It was tough being away without family around," Gatchell told ABC News today, just one day after his return. Gatchell added that it was especially tough to be away during Grace's birth and not "experience it with my wife."
"They were able to inform me that my wife and my daughter were healthy. I knew everything was fine, my wife and my new daughter had a good support group around them," he said.
Gatchell told ABC News he is "overjoyed" to be back.
"Just coming home, it was really good to be reunited with my wife and have a new addition to the family. And have a start to the family," he said.
