SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The USS Theodore Roosevelt crew cheered their captain when he left the ship, after he was relieved of service.
Capt. Brett Crozier was fired just four days after a memo he wrote pleading for help from his Navy superiors was made public. In the letter he requested his crew be evacuated and isolated to prevent sailors from dying.
A Change.org petition garnered more than 129,000 signatures as of Friday night, showing support of Capt. Crozier.
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"If he was not there I don't think my husband and other sailors would have had anywhere to go," wife and mother Stephanie Hastings said.
She is worried about everyone on board the ship, which is now docked in Guam. Friday, the Navy reported 137 positive cases with 47 percent of the crew tested.
"He's been coughing a lot and he's got the body aches. He just got tested and he's waiting, and he'll have the results in the next couple of days," Hastings said.
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Her concerns for her husband doubling the stress she already faces at home, while taking care of their two toddlers.
As for the crew, she says they're acting like nothing is wrong. The Navy said 400 more sailors who tested negative will go into Guam hotels for quarantine Friday night. Hastings said they stay for 16 days and are rotated out.
The Navy said in total 576 service members from the ship are in hotels Friday night.
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The tests and quarantine only possible, Hastings said, because of Cpt. Crozier.
"I feel like he got fired because they were probably trying to keep everything a secret and I don't think that's right. My husband said Guam didn't even want to take them until the letter came out," she said.
The aircraft carrier left in January and was scheduled to return in July, but this detour leaves them with no timeline.
Leaving Hastings sending this message to her husband, "I love him and I miss him and I hope he's going to be okay," she said while wiping away a tear.