SAN DIEGO - The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sherman returned to its homeport of San Diego Friday from an 85-day Bering Sea patrol.

While on patrol, the 378-foot-long Sherman and its crew enforced fishery laws and performed search-and-rescue missions, according to the USCG's public affairs office. The Sherman also participated in Fleet Week in San Francisco in October.

The Romeros waited for hours at Naval Base San Diego. Michael Romero's son, Jarrid, was on board the ship for his first deployment.

"I'll probably cry and hug him at the same time… we miss him so much," Romero said. He and his family drove from Barstow to see Jarrid's return.

It's a homecoming nearly 170 local families couldn't wait for. After a few hours, Jarrid, along with dozens of other sailors, disembarked the Sherman. There were lots of hugs and kisses to go around.

"It was a pretty long patrol," Jarrid Romero said. "It was a great experience."

The cutter is named for John Sherman, the 19th century statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1877 to 1881 under President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Sherman also served as Secretary of State during the McKinley administration, and spent 37 years in Congress as a senator and representative from Ohio. He wrote the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, a landmark federal statute curbing cartels and monopolies.