Niles parents head to reunion with son

The Coursens will stay at the Washington base for five days.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- Their wait is nearly over.
James and Susan Coursen of Niles are on their way to greet their son, Shawn, 28, at Whidbey Island, Washington.
The couple left Friday afternoon from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. They were to land in Detroit then fly to Seattle and travel to the base.
"I think it's a neat adventure," Susan Coursen said before leaving the airport here. "I'm looking forward to it."
Background: The Chinese government released Shawn, a code decipherer with the U.S. Navy, and 23 other U.S. military personnel Wednesday after detaining them for 12 days. The crew was kept on Hainan island after their U.S. surveillance plane collided midair with a Chinese fighter jet April 1.
Lt. Commander Tom O'Keefe of the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Center in Youngstown picked up the couple and drove them to the airport.
"We just talked about how he [Shawn] was frustrated that he was in Hawaii but couldn't do anything," Susan Coursen said of the drive to the airport, adding that the crew was being debriefed and couldn't leave the base.
The Navy is flying the Warren Avenue couple and families of the other crew members to the Saturday homecoming. The couple will stay on the base at Whidbey Island for five days.
The UAW at GM Lordstown gave the couple money to help defray the costs of accommodations, but Mrs. Coursen declined to say how much.
Their trip followed several days of telephone calls and interviews with area and national media and calls from friends. They spent a hectic Friday morning packing.
What they said: "We were up before the alarm went off," Mrs. Coursen said. "I hope we didn't forget anything. I told my daughter to put everything away that I forgot to."
Shawn's father also is looking forward to seeing his son.
"I'm getting a little frazzled now," Coursen said. "I like to fly, but my wife doesn't."
"My ears swell up and I get sick," she said. "But I took some medicine."
Shawn's wife, Misayo, and their daughter, Jessika, 5, also will be in Washington for the crew's homecoming. He and his family live in northern Japan.
The Niles couple last talked to their son and daughter-in-law around the beginning of the year but haven't seen them in about two years.
They expect Shawn to visit their Niles home soon but they don't know when. Mrs. Coursen doesn't know where Shawn, a petty officer first class, will go after the homecoming celebration.
"He hasn't gotten his orders yet," she said.
Mrs. Coursen joked that Shawn may have kept the other crew members entertained during their Chinese custody. Her oldest son is a bit of a practical joker.
"I'm sure he came up with things to do -- I'm not even going to guess," she said.
Their trip means the couple won't be spending Easter with their other three children and grandchildren who live in Trumbull County.
"We're always together for Easter," Mrs. Coursen said. "We have an Easter egg hunt. I told them 'I'm sorry we won't be there for Easter' and they said, 'The Sunday after we'll have the egg hunt and everything.'"