Sailor stops at his real home port

After two years away, the Navy ensign didn't recognize his son.
By LEONARD CRIST
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ensign Glenn Owens Jr. returned to Youngstown to see his parents and relatives for the first time in more than two years Wednesday.
Owens, a Youngstown native, is on leave from the Navy to attend a wedding and returns to his home port in San Diego on Monday. He's enjoying the little time he has with his parents, grandparents and relatives.
"I'm basically just spending time with my family because I don't know the next time when I'm going to be able to come home," he said.
In 2003, Owens, an aircraft director, spent seven months in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, supporting missions in the Iraq war. He returned to San Diego last August, where his wife, Phinisha, and their three children live, but he hadn't been back to Youngstown until Wednesday.
He said it was hard being away from his kids for so long while serving in the Middle East. De'sean, his 2-year-old son, grew up while he was gone.
"After I got back from Iraq, I honestly didn't recognize De'sean. He was darker and talking and walking," he said.
Used to it
Phinisha said when Glenn first joined the Navy nine years ago, she found it difficult to deal with his long absences. But now "it's like clockwork."
In December, Owens will return to the Persian Gulf.
His daughter, Jayla, 10, said she gets scared sometimes that he'll get injured while serving. She also said she misses him because he makes her laugh.
While stationed in the Persian Gulf, Owens received monthly care packages from his family. Inside would be snacks, homemade cards and poems. The family also communicated through e-mail.
Owens said previous tours with the Navy were relatively normal, but the Iraq tour was scary.
"The chemical alarm would go off and then you had to put on the gas mask," he said.
Peaceful coexistence
Owens, who is black, said sometimes white sailors perceive black sailors differently. But aboard the cramped quarters of an aircraft carrier, everyone has to coexist peacefully in order to get the job done.
"You've got people from Iowa and North Dakota, and a lot of them have never even seen black people," Owens said. "When they do see them they perceive them to be these gangsters on TV."
"Once they actually get to know you, they have to judge you for you and not your color."
He added that the Navy promotes soldiers based on test scores, eliminating the possibility of discrimination.
"The only black and white is the pencil and the paper," he said.
lcrist@vindy.com