Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Roger that, Skipper. And if they decide to decom the Big E, the very next CV keel laid had best be named “Enterprise”.
Speed and Violence
The Navy did something quickly that makes total sense? Will wonders never cease?
Great pick.
Hopefully, Monsoor next.
Dang, I could not find the pic when I posted…
HeloBubba – this was the last DDG51. Note that DDG109 will be the USS JASON DUNHAM.
Since they screwed up and didn’t name it after one of our incredibly motivating congressmen, hopefully the ship will have a motto that celebrates the diversity of the crew and other equally important things.
Outstanding!! I agree HB, Monsoor deserves a tribute as well.
If you all have not been, the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriot’s Point in Charleston S.C is well worth the trip. It brought tears to my eyes reading about the sacrifices of these brave peoples. Now, I am sure Monsoor will be added, LT Murphy was already enshrined.
Byron Aulder:
With all due respect to both you and USS Enterprise, which I deployed on at the very end of the Vietnam war, the next CV should be named USS America, in honor of a fine ship and this wonderful country.
Damn near brought a tear to my eye, it did.
Excellent choice!
BRAVO ZULU, Navy.
Now we Army guys need to make sure the Engineer School main building is renamed Paul Smith Hall,
DDG112 will have a fine name, befitting the job she is expected to perform.
I think we continue the trend toward BAMF namings to it’s logical conclusion for the next carrier and just use adjectives, Navy Sailing style. “Courageous” ,”Fearless”, etc. Or maybe nouns: “Vengeance”, “Fury”. . . “USS Violence” anyone?
In short, we need names that strike fear into the hearts of our foes. You know, warrior ethos and all.
Great news! I’m glad to hear that we’ll be honoring this hero this way.
Jim C
Well done.
I am very glad, yet surprised that the US military would do something so logical, and fitting.
Perhaps it’s because it was the Navy. Thank God for men like Murphy.
Cheers!
Chris
Great choice! Glad to see the decision was swift.
On a side note, I would like to see the Navy begin to name new subs in honor of those on eternal patrol. It would be a fitting tribute.
Rest well all
Dan
Humble1390 wrote: “I think we continue the trend toward BAMF namings to it’s logical conclusion for the next carrier and just use adjectives, Navy Sailing style. “Courageous” ,”Fearless”, etc. Or maybe nouns: “Vengeance”, “Fury”. . . “USS Violence” anyone?”
If we did, Everyone would think we were Brits.
One of my favorite lines from “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy; USS Reuben James and HMS Battleaxe were headed out of port together when Battleaxe blinkers over “What the devil is a Reuben James?” The Signalman asks the captain how does he want to respond… to which he replies, “Send… ‘At least we don’t name our ships after our mother-in-laws’”.
more to the point, this is how destroyers should be named. destroyers have always been named after the navy’s honored own. (with the recent exceptions of Roosevelt and Churchill)
now if the Navy could man up and start naming carriers after historic ships and battles again. Enterprise, Lexington, Ranger and Saratoga deserve to be on the hulls of carriers, by golly!
I’ve always been interested in how the Navy names their ships. No need to wonder about this one – so right, so perfect.
I may be wrong, but isn’t there a Congressional mandate that there will always be a ship named Enterprise in the US Navy?
The “absolutely hellish” Crossfit workout Lex mentioned last week: http://www.neptunuslex.com/2008/05/02/busy-day/
1 mile run/100 pull-ups/200 push-ups/300 squats/1 mile run
is named the ‘Murph’ after the same Lt. Michael Murphy because it was one of his favorites. He was so far beyond normal humans, he preferred to do it while wearing body armor.
Do you have any opinion with regard to the civilian campaign to have DDG-1001 named the USS Robert A. Heinlein?
Heinlein served on USS Roper (DD-147), as well as USS Lexington (CV-2) prior to being medically retired due to tuberculosis.
You know, not really? I mean, I like much of Heinlein’s work – or at least, I did back when I read science fiction – but a USS Heinlein as contrasted to a Michael Monsoor (for example), I’d rather serve on the latter.
Still, we’ve named Navy ships after less worthy luminaries. Josephus Daniels not only made the Navy “dry,” he was a notorious racist and we named a ship after him.
I’m sure RAH would argue against naming a ship after him when there are more worthy names.
Now, if we named on of those new LCS after him, it might be more fitting. Or a SSBN.
Blame the ship naming problem on the demise of the BBs , the downsizing of the fleet, and the Congressional desire to secure civilian support for the defense
budget by naming everything after cities, politicians or popular historical figures. Hence treating SSN/SSBNs as capital ships and naming them after cities instead of fish–and the fact that not enough cruiser types around anymore to carry the load for even the “lesser” cities. The “old” (pre-WWII) way was a system that had precision and elegance: BBs(States); CVs(famous battles); CAs(major cities) ;CLs(minor cities); Subs(fish) DDs(famous navel heroes); etc., was a logical system. Now only the DDs, hospital ships, mine- sweepers/layers, most repair ships, oilers& ammo ships and some cruisers still hew strictly to the old nomenclature–not enough types of ships to support old system.
Particularly odious is practice of naming ships after live politicians. In its desire to secure funding the Navy has –as in so many other areas–thrown tradition out the window–in this case as in so many others much to the detriment of that general sense of pride which is the sum total of oh so many cumulative little things.
By way of example, when I was on active
duty in the AF we wore our Sq. patches on our rt. breast of our flt suits/jackets
just like the Navy still does. Well over 25
yrs ago AF decreed that Sq patch go to rt shoulder and the MAJOR COMMAND
(not even the numbered Air Force, let alone the Wing insignia to which the Sq. was attached) patch replace it. Now everyone looks like a HQ “weenie.” If
anyone doesn’t think this shift in em- phasis doesn’t have a very subtle, but
definite effect on attitudes –even for FNGs who have never been exposed to the “old” system–well, you’ve never been in a fighter squadron. Or played on or coached an athletic team at any level. I know that for years after the USAF removed the numbered AF patch from the dress blues everyone complained about the “bus-driver” look, and the Army is not too happy with the “Forest Ranger” look either. And while I understand that when the USMC removed the Division patches from their
Class A Dress Greens it was to try to make them think as “Marines” rather than to foster rivalries between units in a small Service, combat sure brings the
insignia back. When I was with the 366TFW at DaNang, the Marines on
the other side of the field sure had their big 1st MARDIV and 1st MAW signs and insignia all over the place. And the “east coast” vs “west coast” rivalry within both the USN & USMC air arms is well recorded. So, it should be obvious that this guy is a big believer in both heated rivalries and heraldry as a means to build on tradition and foster esprit de corps.
Napoleon said it best: “With a few strands of ribbon…..”