Matt Loveless re-enlists in U.S. Navy
Culinary Specialist E-5 Matthew David Loveless re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy in February.
He is assigned to the USS Thach, and has made three trips to the Gulf since he has been in the Navy. Thach sailors recently received a heroes' welcome at Pier 8 on Naval Station San Diego after steaming through 27 time zones, operating off the coasts of four continents and participating in two major operations.
Port visits were at Djobut, Africa, Muscat Omon, Australia, naval base Bahrain, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In late December 2004, less than a month into deployment, Thach cut short a port visit to Singapore to respond to the humanitarian disaster caused by the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that devastated South Asia.
Thach, one of the first responders to the tsunami, established a coalition sea base and used its aircraft and watercraft to reach the hardest hit areas of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
During two weeks of humanitarian operations, Thach participated in delivering more than 2.1 million pounds of aid ashore. Thach then steamed into the Persian Gulf and conducted maritime security operations. Thach's primary mission in the North Persian Gulf was maintaining security in and around both the Al Basrah and Khawr Al Amaya oil field terminals.
Loveless is a Centre High School graduate, the son of David Loveless of Lincolnville and Pat Kaspar of Wichita.
When not on duty, he makes his home in La Mesa, Calif., with his wife Jennifer, one-year-old daughter, Kylie, and 10-year-old son, Brandon.
