Brooklyn serves those who serve at Fleet Week welcome in Red Hook
Fleet Week returned to Brooklyn in grand style, making up for a hiatus of several years, as two of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class destroyers, Farragut and Bainbridge, and the U.S. Coast Guard medium endurance cutter Forward cruised with majestic grandeur into New York Harbor, docking in the Red Hook Ferry Terminal. Awaiting the ships’ companies was the succulent odor of barbecue, courtesy of BBQ Brethren, a loose association of smoked meat aficionados who pulled out all the stops to provide sailors, marines and members of the Coast Guard a memorable welcome back.
Barbecue chefs worked a variety of smokers and grills: some industrial, others homemade. Chicken and brisket and crayfish were offered at several spots, but pork seemed to hold the place of honor amid the smoke and flames and clank of stainless steel tongs.
An impromptu honor guard composed of veteran Freedom Riders, relatives of service personnel and even a trio of Little Patriots “Welcome Them Home” ambassadors hoisted flags of various sizes while guiding crew members off ship and into liberty.