Navy captain asks bin Laden burial crew to be safe

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier pulls into Pearl Harbor Hawaii on Tuesday, June 7, 2011, making its first stop on U.S. soil since burying Osama bin Laden at sea last month. The massive carrier and its 5,500 sailors, pilots and crew were returning home from their deployment to the Middle East and Asia that began Nov. 30. It spent 171 of 191 days at sea and sailed more than 52,340 nautical miles. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

SAN DIEGO — The commanding officer of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier that buried Osama bin Laden’s body at sea says he is returning home with one message for his 5,500 sailors, pilots and crew: Be safe.

Capt. Bruce Lindsey talked to reporters Monday in a teleconference call from the ship. It’s scheduled to return to San Diego Wednesday, ending a six-month deployment.

Lindsey wouldn’t comment on bin Laden’s burial, except to say appropriate precautions are being taken for the crew’s safety.

Lindsey says he has been working with family readiness groups to ensure no details slip out on Facebook or other social media sites that would compromise that.

Pentagon officials say a weighted bag carrying bin Laden’s body was placed on a board and tipped into the North Arabian sea.

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