Little was certain for Van Edwin Stewart Jr., but this much was clear: He wanted to finish college, and joining the Navy was the best way to do it.

Ten years later, his mission is accomplished.

&#8220It’s been a ride,” Stewart, 30, said from the University of Mississippi, where he graduated Saturday with a degree in criminal justice. &#8220Not knowing exactly where I wanted to go after basic classes in school, the military was always in the back of my mind.”

It makes sense. His father and grandfather served in the Navy, and five generations of the Stewart family have served in the military. Continuing the tradition was always an option.

&#8220I thought it would be great to just put in a few years, then get out and go to college. My whole intention was to get the military experience and then walk away from it.”

So, after completing two years of college, Stewart enlisted. Using the Navy’s College Fund program, he told himself he would serve for six years before returning to civilian life.

His intentions quickly changed.

&#8220I got stationed on the USS Enterprise and from there, I fell in love with the Navy,” Stewart said. &#8220That’s when I realized it was in my blood, and that’s where I wanted to stay.”

Four years into his service, Stewart was on Africa’s east coast, heading home, when the Enterprise received orders to turn around.

&#8220We watched CNN and Fox News as the towers fell,” he said. &#8220Fifteen minutes after the first plane hit, we were going back to the (Persian Gulf). When the ship turned around, everyone was yelling, ‘Let’s go back.’ Especially after 9/11, I had a great sense of pride in what I was doing.”

And it was from the Enterprise, on Oct. 7, 2001, planes dropped the first bombs over Afghanistan.

&#8220There’s nothing like watching a fighter jet taking off from a flight deck,” Stewart said.

Built by Northrup Grumman, the Enterprise was launched in 1960. It is nuclear-powered, 1,123 feet long, and its flight deck is over four acres.

Spending months at a time on the aircraft carrier is &#8220strange,” Stewart said.

&#8220It’s an acquired life and not everybody can love it. Everything is high tempo. A nuclear power plant is below you and an airport is above you. That makes life pretty interesting.”

Stewart specialized in cryptology and communications on the Enterprise, but his service on the ship is done. After he was commissioned as a surface warfare officer the day before graduating from Ole Miss, Stewart was preparing to report to the USS Laboon, a destroyer ported in Norfolk, Va. The ship was built by Iron Bath Works and launched in 1995, the year Stewart graduated from Vicksburg High School.

&#8220Who would have known a small country boy from Vicksburg would be doing this? I get a lot of pride out of it.”

Stewart’s parents, Van Edwin Stewart Sr. and Sue Stewart, know something about pride, too. Their other son, Jason Stewart, 28, is a second-class petty officer at Camp David – the presidential retreat at the Naval Support Facility Thurmont.

&#8220We’re proud of both boys,” Stewart Sr. said from his Vicksburg home. &#8220Both have excelled. I’m glad my sons felt compelled to see to their duty.”

The brothers enlisted together and served alongside each other on the Enterprise for two years.

Their father said he didn’t expect them to serve this long.

&#8220I envisioned them going into the military for four years, but not to make a career of the military.”

Nonetheless, Sue Stewart said, they appreciate their sons’ dedication to country, although she was apprehensive about letting them go.

&#8220They kept it well hidden from me until they signed,” she said. &#8220I can’t even describe how I felt when I found out.”

Stewart Jr. acknowledged his enlistment was a sensitive time for his mom, but said she understands why he and his brother did it.

&#8220I didn’t go to my mom because I knew her reaction to everything,” he said. &#8220The only thing she could think of was her babies leaving her. She asked us numerous times if we had changed our minds. Once she saw that we loved it, we have gotten nothing but encouragement – an undying faith from my family.”

While he must cope with worrying parents at home, he must also explain to his three young daughters – Marlee Hope Stewart, 9; Lexi Grace Stewart, 7; and Kendyll Faith Stewart, 3 – why their dad is away so much.

&#8220It’s heartbreaking, and it’s hard to describe a sense of duty,” he said. &#8220The hardest thing for me when I first deployed was my daughter crying, saying, ‘Please don’t go.’ It’s very, very hard. But it becomes part of the military culture to leave” home.