Naming of Navy ships returns to tradition - Washington Times

Naming of Navy ships returns to tradition - Washington Times

Mabus is an idiot. How the hell he's survived as Navy Secretary this long is a mystery.

Note the last paragraphs:

He named a San Diego-class amphibious docking ship, one used principally by Marines, after the late Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat. The previous nine ships in that class had been named after U.S. cities, a park and a county. The naming angered members of the Marine community, who noted that Mr. Murtha had declared that Marines killed civilians “in cold blood” in the Iraqi village of Haditha in 2005. At the time, the Marines involved in the raid had not been put on trial. Only one Marine was convicted - on a charge of dereliction of duty.The Navy noted Mr. Murtha’s service as a Marine in Vietnam and his support in the House to fund the armed forces.

Until that point, the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships had been named for famous explorers or people who made significant contributions to the armed forces. Chavez served briefly in the Navy after World War II. A biographer wrote that he considered it the worst time of his life. Critics said there were better choices if the Navy wanted to honor a Hispanic.

“The one that got the most attention from people who couldn’t really quite figure out whether that was the appropriate thing to do or even related much to the military was the Cesar Chavez and the Jack Murtha,” Mr. Blunt told reporters. “People in the Chavez case could not figure out the linkage.”

Last week, Mr. Mabus named a littoral combat ship after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona Democrat.

Until the Giffords naming, all Freedom- and Independence-class littoral combat ships had been named after U.S. cities.