By all lights, former Arizona Congressman Gabrielle Giffords was a good politician, with no intent towards the customary faint praise that might attach to that description. She was a Fulbright scholar, had a successful business career before turning to politics, and was elected to both chambers of Arizona’s state house prior to going national, where she was three times elected to serve the people of southeast Arizona. While in Congress, she served on the House Armed Services Committee, and its subcommittees on readiness, tactical air and land forces, as well as on the House Science, Space and Technology committee, where she was ranking member on the subcommittee on space and aeronautics. Her husband flew A-6 Intruders in combat during Desert Storm, and is now an astronaut at NASA.
She had the great misfortune of being shot and nearly killed by a lunatic in January 2011. Her process towards recovery is undoubtedly heroic.
And for all that, she will have a US Navy warship named after her:
Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt one year ago, is getting a Navy vessel named in her honor.
The Navy said Friday that its newest Littoral Combat Ship, a small, agile surface vessel, will be known as the USS Gabrielle Giffords. The ship’s “sponsor” will be Roxanna Green, the mother of Christina-Taylor Green, the 9-year-old girl who was killed in the Tucson shooting that wounded Giffords in January 2011.
In a statement, the secretary of the navy, Ray Mabus, described Giffords and Roxanna Green as “sources of great inspiration” who “represent the Navy and Marine Corps qualities of overcoming, adapting and coming out victoriously despite great challenges.”
These ships are meant to have 50 year life cycles. Some twenty or thirty years from now, a sailor will walk aboard and ask how the ship came to be named. He will be told that it was named by a nice lady who happened to get shot.
I have only this to say about that: The Army should start naming tanks, and the Air Force tankers.
Take some of the load off, please.
Speechless!
“… 50 year life cycles …”
OTOH, if the LCS’s longevity or performance becomes a disappointment soon enough, this naming convention would earn a public black mark.
Like most of the Naval folk, I decry the naming conventions of the modern day. My grandfather used to tell me that you could tell the nature of the ship by its name: fish for subs, states were BBs, carriers were battlefields, cruisers were cities, destroyers were enlisted Naval heroes, support ships were civilian heroes, tugs were Native American names, landing support ships had a Marine slant to them.
Alas…
I thought we named libraries and office building after politicians…
From what I’ve seen, both Army and Marine tanks are usually named with the names appearing on the breach extractor or barrel of the M1A1′s main gun. The names are usually memorable for their inventiveness or martial spirit. One in particular was named after ‘someone’ named “Morning Wood”. I’ve always enjoyed that one in particular – a ‘heroic figure’ to be honored, no doubt.
I wish I had a collection of such names to go with my collection of favorite “nose art” from the days when such things were not proscribed due to PC.
They do it on artillery tubes as well: in my battery we had “Damage, Inc.” “Shook Ones” “Hell’s Bells” and few others whose names escape me for the moment.
Look, this is all about victimhood being the new sainthood. Nothing in the culture is becoming more cherished or worthy of celebration, than being a victim.
This is why it is so important to sustain all sorts of “protected” groups, so that they can continue to claim “victimhood” into perpetuity.
I’m not going to walk too far down that path what with having served on ASW frigates named for famous submarine commanders of WWII and serving on DD named after some fairly obscure WWII Amphibious Commanders from SOPAC.
I always liked the Hancock because on her stern was the painted/beaded signature right out of history. There were others.
I thought wossname the computer lady deserved a ship and I have no problem with Gabby getting one either.
There IS a USS HOPPER, so the ‘computer lady” got hers.
But at least RADM Hopper was actually *in* the Navy…
HOPPER is an Aegis Destroyer. Much of the pioneering computer work Grace Hopper did carried over into the Aegis combat system. This was an excellent choice for the Navy as was USS Wayne E. Meyer DDG-108.
USAF declines to participate in this particular self-inflicted debasement (no nits, gomen).
Not quite true…
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/man-ac-b2-000714.htm
Not to disrespect the Representative, but the DD I served on was named posthumously after a MOH recipient in WW II.
Maybe that future sailor will also be lucky enough to sail on The Chavez and The Murthur. Can The Clinton be far behind? regards, Alemaster
Make that The Murtha, I really need to check spelling before posting. Of course, Captain, if you’d fix it for me I wouldn’t look so stupid. regards, Alemaster
There are NOT enough words of disgust. DON’T get me started..
I hope you aren’t running low on your meds (i.e. Barbancourt).
This new naming convention (?) is all about erasing the institution of national pride. If no one remembers the heroes who sacrificed, or the battles in which they did it, or the causes for which those battles were fought, then the history of those people and events can be modified to fit the present political necessities, or even swept into the memory hole.
There are powers that want the USA to disappear into a regional, and eventual global, conglomerate. That’s harder to do when the people know the truth. We few, we band of brothers, who have knowledge and memory of history, stand in their way.
Indeed, VX! There are not enough words of disgust.
Teach your children well!
On the potential bright side, and similar to the Jimmy Carter Attack Submarine, I’d have to think it bothers liberals to some degree that there is lethality running around the world with their name on it.
Lethality? Remember, this is an LCS that carries mission modules.
It’s gonna be involved in kicking something
….Perhaps some of our submariners can confirm this, but I’ve read from a couple of different sources that one reason SSN-23 was named Jimmy Carter is because it’s a dedicated ‘special ops’ boat – that is, it’s very, very unlikely to EVER be mentioned in the media until she’s decommissioned.
Of course, given the current administration’s willingness to talk about special ops, that could change.
Mike
A submarine was named after Jimmy Carter because he was the Engineer on Seawolf (SSN-575) a very early nuc boat.
The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) is the third hull of the Seawolf (SSN-21) class. Don’t ask me why they started the hull numbers over again. The whole ship naming thing went to hell when they stopped naming submarines after sea creatures (not just fish).
In the TARNG we did name our tanks. We called ‘em Turkeys. Seems rather appropriate given the thrust of this thread.
Wonder if this would be happening if, all other things being equal, Rep Giffords happened to have an “R” after her name instead of a “D”?
Just wondering.
I’ll lay serious money that obama nor his ignorant T-shirt rallying supporters (at a solemn event involving multiple murders, and how’d you feel to be one of the family members of one of those who was murdered) would have stepped foot in Tucson had it been someone other than a democrat.
Heck then name the next one after Bob Dylan , or Ed Norton , or my towns dog catcher he was bite four times.
When I was in the Navy as a boiler tech I think I remember that the tradition of Warship naming was that if it was named after a person,it was after they had passed and was not named after the living and breathing,but then Sir Ronnie of the Reagan thing made my head explode. Then I was in the Army and was furious when I heard about that Naval debacle by the pc admirality. So much for tradition. Have they done away with getting your ass kicked and whooped with fire hoses(shalalies) when crossing the Equator now days?
Could any of you courteous and kindly commenters [or even the splendid Lex himself] tell me if there has ever been a US Navy ship named after Captain James Lawrence? When I briefly worked on Wall Street after I graduated from Columbia, I learned that he was buried in Trinity Churchyard there. He was one of my respectable ancestors, so I used to walk to the churchyard with my sandwich lunch and commune with him. His famous comment just before his death was “Don’t give up the ship” — something I’ve always struggled to adhere to.
It’s still good advice, even for a woman of advanced years, and for all of us in these tense and exasperating times.
Marianne
Lawrence hazarded his ship when he shouldn’t have. He took a green crew against THE crack frigate of the Royal Navy, and unlike some of the other frigates of our Navy, he was, if not outgunned, certainly not more powerful than HMS Shannon.
And only moments after uttering his famous phrase, they gave up the ship.
Not to slight his honor or dignity.
Just his judgement.
Our family lived in a wonderful town in New Jersey named in Lawrence’s honor, located midway between Trenton and Princeton – an area steeped in Revolutionary spirit.
Might a new settlement in Arizona be named Giffords? Doubtful.
This Austal aluminum wonder should not last more than twenty years, and she will likely need need yardwork during many of them.
Marianne- Happily, yes, there have been five U.S. Navy ships named Lawrence, in well deserved honor of CAPT James Lawrence.
A Brig built on Lake Erie in 1813 and sunk in the Battle of Lake Erie later that year.
A Brig launched in Baltimore in 1843 and sold off in Boston in 1846.
A Destroyer (number
built at Quincy, Mass, and serving from 1903 to 1919.
Another Destroyer, DD-250, a “four piper” built at Camden, NJ, and serving 1921-1945.
The final Destroyer, DDG-4, one of the Adams class guided missile Dstroyers, also built at Camden, NJ. She served from 1962 to 1990.
You may find out more about the USS Lawrence Association at http://http://usslawrence.com/ and more history about the destroyers named in honor of CAPT Lawrence from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) at http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/
A biography of Lawrence is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawrence along with a great painting of the handsome skipper.
Thank you for your family’s LONG history of service to our country.
Marianne,
There have been 5 ships named after James Lawrence.
The latest was DDG-4. Check here:
http://www.usslawrence.com/Namesake.html
Kent
There are various naming conventions in the Army as regards fighting vehicles.
Some units prohibit the practice. Others allow names of a martial bent that begin with the same letter as the company, such as an A Co. tank with the name “Armageddon” or a B Co. Bradley with the name “Battle Wagon.”
Other companies or battalions have a more relaxed approach. I served on a Bradley named for the track commander’s wife, “Natoma” or “Spirit of the Wind” IIRC.
Which, about 30 seconds after I became the track commander was renamed “Christine.”
After your wife? Or the Plymouth Fury?
Representative Gifford’s near fatal would and dicey chances are sad, and she has been a class act throughout about her wounding and recovery. She is not one of the pantheon of naval heroes.
The blame for the naming mess lies on Admiral Rickover’s doorstep, blatantly seeking Congressional favor to ensure his longevity in office and program funding because “fish don’t vote”.
It worked. It is now the norm. Effect on the sensibilities of those who serve be damned. The criteria is now friends and heroes of SecNav. I suppose I’m glad it wasn’t USS Barbara Boxer or Bella Abzug.
To use a phrase sometimes incorporated here, “it is to weep”.
I’m not in agreement with this at all. Nothing to do with politics; what happened to Congresswoman Giffords and those killed/wounded that day was horrible, and I’m sorry for those that were wounded or lost their lives. I just don’t think being shot and surviving should merit getting a ship named after you, otherwise we’d have a pool of tens of thousands of names of those that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Seems like a blatant move to make those that approve the funding (Congress) feel warm and fuzzy. THAT is where the politics comes in.
The neurosurgery unit at a Naval Hospital would have been more appropriate.
I think a USS Barney Fwank isn’t far away. I don’t like our mightiest ships named after politicians at all. Once you open that Pandora’s box…
I’m glad the Coast Guard with one exception – the Alex Haley, named after a rampant plagiarist & former Coastie – hasn’t fallen victim to this mess. Here’s betting there won’t be another Enterprise, Saratoga or Lexington. There’s plenty of whore politicians to pander to their constituencies.
Here’s hoping the whole toothless LCS hollow ship program gets cancelled.
Cancelled? It won’t. Too many voters make a living from building those ships, both classes…a decision which only happened because too many voters make a living from building those ships.
Thankfully the Army as an institution doesn’t name tanks individually, though series of tanks are named after Generals, usually cavalrymen… the M3 Grant, M4 Sherman, M5 Stuart, M37 Chaffee, M41 Walker, M26 Pershing, M47,M48 and M60 Patton, M1 Abrams, M3 (IFV) Bradley, M551 Sheridan, M1126 Stryker (actually Stryker was named for two enlisted Soldiers, CPL Robert F. Stryker who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Viet Nam and PFC Stuart Stryker who was awarded the MOH in WWII), and if it hadn’t been cancelled the M8 Armored Gun System was going to be the Buford. To get a series of armored vehilces named after you, you have to be a General or a hero AND dead.
Individual tanks are named by their crews, based on local policy. Mine were Blacksheep (an M551A1), Animal House (another M551A1), Cold Steel (yet another M551A1), Blacksheep II (an M1IP), Blacksheep III (an M1A1), and Hell Hound (another M1A1).
LTCF/
What? No “Fighting Sand-Crab?” (h/t Tank McNamera
)
All I can do is hope and pray that some US politician named Ben Dover doesn’t do something too noteworthy.
Lex,
Not sure what her husband’s resume has to do with a ship being named after “her.” She’s a member of Hussein’s party and therefore a leftist socialist in my estimation…Yeah, she got shot by a nut. What has that got to do with fighting and winning from the sea?
I think the idea is that her husband’s naval affiliation provides the “hook” that for some strange reason means Mrs. Giffords gets a ship named after her. I don’t think otherwise anyone in the Obama admin would have made the connection.
Then she’d only have gotten a star named after her (from $54 to $154 at http://www.starregistry.com/).
Another tasteless observation: unlike Mrs. Gabrielle Giffords, if her namesake the USS Gabrielle Giffords gets shot she’s sure not to survive based upon what I hear and read about the LCS.
Sorry, I can’t help myself. I don’t mean to make light of this apparently very nice woman’s injury. But there are so many other candidates for naming a ship after. I’ve thought for years that Barry Atkins deserved a ship named after him. He was the skipper of the Melvin, a Fletcher-class destroyer, that sank the IJN battleship Fuso with torpedoes during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Now there’s a feat of skill and bravery; it was the first time in history, and the last.
But if the USS Atkins had to steam in company with the USS Gloria Steinem, the USS Al Sharpton, and the USS Village People he’d probably wish we never lobbied SecNav on his behalf. Especially if the USS Atkins had to have that pink Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon painted on her hull like the Coastie racing stripe which is an initiative I believe Mabus is only days away from announcing.
For that matter what does the Little C****y Ship (LCS) have to do with fighting and winning from the sea?
More,
More than a little tired of every road, bridge and public $hit-house being named afer some politician. It’s taxpayer money not theirs, so why do we name public landmarks after mostly self-serving politicians? It should be outlawed accross the board. Politicians being politicians, about half the public don’t like them no matter their political leanings. It’s harmful to public morale to have our public edifices named after political operatives.
I agree, with thee.
Ray Mabus is a disgrace.
So, we can expect to see the USS Michael Jackson laying keel any day now? Complete with an over-sized nursery staffed by disturbing people in clown costumes, to care for the infants of the female ‘combat’ staff?
The Navy has forgotten what it is for, I fear.
I remember “Thumper” and “Son of Thumper” on the barrels of two 155 howitzers, never failed to bring a smile to my face.
I feel very sorry for Rep Giffords, but she was shot by a lunatic, not while engaged in combat against the enemy, she was a victim. Naming a Navy warship after her is in poor taste at best and political grandstanding at the far end of worst case….Unless we start to realize that Enemy appears to be a pretty broad definition to our political classes.
Sadly, I can’t recall the name of the female, civilian, security officer who shot Major Nidal Hassan down, thus preventing more carnage at Fort Hood- I think she would be a much better candidate to name a warship after.
+10
The female DA Police Officer was Kim Munley. Not to take anything away from her, she performed bravely, but none of her shots hit Hassan before she was shot in the hand and leg. It was Sgt Mark Todd who fired the five shots that took Hassan down.
Sgt Todd was recently laid off as the the Army begins replacing DA Police Officers with Military Police.
This may be tasteless question, but when they set the in-port security watches in the USS Gabrielle Giffords will they out of respect just issue whistles and bear spray instead of firearms?
Hey MABUS -
Why don’t you look to the Service you’re supposedly the Secretary of? Here’s a place to start:
Lt. Miroslav “Steve” Zilberman, VAW-121
Lt. Zilberman was the pilot of an E-2C Hawkeye as it returned from a mission over Afghanistan, heading toward the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the North Arabian Sea. The crippled aircraft was lost but Lt. Zilberman stayed with the plane keeping the wings level so three of his crew could get out. The crew was rescued. Lt. Zilberman’s body was never found.
(See the Virginia-Pilot, 9 April, 2010)
When is the last time any politician ever sacrificed anything for anyone, let alone saved the lives of three people.
Mabus – you’re a tool. You don’t deserve to be cleaning the heads on ships in which brave men like Lt. Miroslav “Steve” Zilberman are embarked.
Lt. Zilberman’s act is bravery. Gifford was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it hadn’t been for a crazed liberal nut-job, she’d still be in Congress pushing that holiday for cowboys legislation. BTW does that include cowgirls too? Annie Oakley was my favorite.
Addendum
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/downed-navy-pilot-honored-norfolk-sacrifice
The first piece of legislation Congresswoman Gifford introduced was to declare a national day to commemorate cowboys (it was Arizona after all). She also asked in a HASC hearing what the military was doing to decrease their carbon foot print in Afghanistan. I propose that we destroy the enemy with nuclear radiation instead of using napalm. Where are those neutron bombs when you need ‘em. (That would be W-72 BTW – the Army used it on the Lance missile).
May I suggest the USS “Call Me Senator” in honor of Barbara Boxer? It would look good on a Captain’s Gig.