USS Lincoln crew hits the streets of Thai beach city after lengthy Middle East deployment

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — Buses carrying crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier streamed into Thailand’s seaside resort city of Pattaya on Thursday, as part of a port call after a lengthy deployment to the Middle East.

The Lincoln was supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and its deployment included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days. Its lengthy deployment drew concerns last month about deteriorating mental health among the crew as well as shortages of key food supplies aboard.

The Navy downplayed any problems, and President Donald Trump commented that the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”

The ship has been deployed for a total of 286 days, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. Its total uninterrupted time at sea before Wednesday’s arrival in Chonburi province was 264 days.

The ship is expected to depart Thailand this weekend and continue its journey back to the U.S.

After clambering down from buses, laden with luggage, several service members told The Associated Press they were excited to be in Thailand.

Vendors and travel agents gathered outside the Hard Rock Hotel, the designated pickup and drop-off point for troops traveling from the Lincoln, which is docked nearby at Laem Chabang port.

They swarmed service members as they arrived, offering a range of souvenirs and services. Many sailors waved them away while waiting for their rides.

Two other ships from the Lincoln’s strike group are docked elsewhere in Thailand, with the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. at Chonburi’s Sriracha port and the cruiser USS Robert Smalls in Map Ta Phut in neighboring Rayong province.

A-ngoon Sombat traveled 200 kilometers between Pattaya and the central province of Ayutthaya to sell colorful braided bracelets to the visiting crew, as she does every time she hears a U.S. ship is coming for a port call in Chonburi province.

She set up opposite the hotel entrance and had managed to make some sales, but said she is still unsure if business will be good this week.

“There are many vendors around. It’s really up to how lucky each of us are,” she said.

Dozens of service members could be spotted strolling around Pattaya's Terminal 21 mall with shopping bags in their hands as the afternoon sun was blazing outside.

A 20-year-old serving as a navigator aboard the Petersen, who declined to give his name because he was told not to speak to media while ashore, said the morale among his crew members was really high now that they had arrived in Thailand.

The sailor said it was his first deployment for the U.S. Navy. He said it was a bit of an ordeal but he was happy to finally be on his way home.

He declined to comment when asked about the reports about the conditions on the Lincoln.

A spot just outside the Laem Chabang port had turned into a small attraction by Wednesday evening, as people gathered to catch a glimpse of the Lincoln.

People arrived by car and motorcycle to peer through a mesh fence at the ship, which is as long as about three American football fields. They took photos and videos, excitedly chatted with strangers about their chance to see the vessel.

American Keith Eldridge, who has lived in Thailand for five years, traveled from the neighboring province of Chachoengsao just to see the ship. He was too late to catch the Lincoln docking but found the viewing spot through a recommendation from other enthusiasts he met along the way.

He said it was impressive for him to get to lay his eyes on this “engineering marvel.”

“When you get to look at something so big, wrapped up with so much technology, the radars, the sonars, the weapon systems, the propulsion systems, it is truly amazing that we can build it, float it, and we fight from it,” he said.

The Lincoln’s commanding officer, Capt. Dan Keeler, said the ship will be heading home soon, but may make further supply stops. He declined to comment on the exact date the strike group is expected back in the U.S.

People take pictures as the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at a port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln leave a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln arrive at a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Billboard display at Walking Street in Pattaya, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln talk to a souvenir vendor in Pattaya, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese man who had been held prisoner in Israel was released Thursday, the first such handover since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war six months ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross and two Lebanese security officials said.

The man, identified as Malek Ghazi, was handed over to the Lebanese army via the ICRC, one of the Lebanese security officials said. The other official said they were anticipating the release of another prisoner. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Ghazi was handed over to the ICRC at the border crossing in the coastal town of Naqoura on Lebanon's southern frontier and was then transferred to a Lebanese army intelligence office in the city of Tyre.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dozens of Lebanese prisoners are believed to be held in Israeli detention centers, including civilians as well as Hezbollah militants captured during fighting in southern Lebanon. The circumstances of Ghazi’s capture were not immediately clear, but one of the Lebanese officials said he was a civilian.

The prisoner release came as talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials had appeared to reach an impasse. Lebanon and Israel in June signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, but little progress has been made in implementation on the ground.

Another round of talks is expected to take place in Rome later this month.

Hezbollah is not a party to the Lebanon-Israel talks and has said it will not give up its weapons in any area north of southern Lebanon's Litani river. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said they will not withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed throughout the country.

The Lebanese state has been reluctant to attempt to forcibly disarm the militant group, which is also a political party and social services provider with a large popular base in the country's Shiite Muslim community.

Lebanon fought a brutal civil war from 1975 to 1990, and many fear that any clash between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah could spiral into another devastating civil conflict.

Hezbollah and Israel have fought a series of wars since the militant group was founded with Iranian support in the 1980s to combat Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. Their latest war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired missiles over the border, two days after the U.S. and Iran attacked Iran.

Smoke and flames rise as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

An Israeli tank takes a position in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)