The American sea captain who was held by pirates off of Africa and the crew of a Navy ship involved his rescue are reuniting in Virginia.

The captain of a commercial ship hijacked by Somali pirates will serve as the marshal of Norfolk’s Grand Illumination Parade.

Less than two months into its latest deployment, the Virginia-based USS Bainbridge found itself at the forefront of a tense overseas showdown. Snipers from the guided-missile destroyer, whose home port is Naval Station Norfolk, needed just three shots to take out three Somali pirates holding an American cargo ship captain hostage Sunday in the Indian Ocean.