Sunday Newscape Magazine

The U.S. military, by its very nature, is full of history and traditions.

Recently, I learned about one of those great historical traditions.

The U.S. Navy has the long and honorable tradition of naming war ships after its fallen heroes. This tradition dates back to well before World War I. One report has it that it goes back to 1819, even before the Civil War.

The USS Farragut, a guided missile destroyer commissioned in June 2006, was named after a very early hero, Admiral David Farragut, the Civil War hero of “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” fame.

To date, there have been more than 1,000 destroyers named after such heroes - sailors or Marines. Six destroyers have been named after Medal of Honor recipients. One of the most recent ones is the DDG-106 USS Stockdale, honoring Medal of Honor recipient Vice Adm. James Bond Stockdale, the legendary leader of American prisoners of war during the Vietnam War and one of the most highly decorated officers in our military history.  (Adm. Stockdale was candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, on Ross Perot’s independent ticket. The Admiral died in 2005)

This weekend, at Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine, this venerable tradition will be on display once more. The U.S. Navy will be christening its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, named after one of those Medal of Honor recipients.  It is the first of two destroyers named after Medal of Honor recipients - for the first time heroes from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As has been the case with many who have gone before them, both the Medal of Honor and this additional honor will have come to these heroes after their deaths.

On March 23, 2007, then-Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, announced that the Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer would be the USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), honoring the late Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, the first Marine awarded the Medal of Honor for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Dunham was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism in Iraq.

While conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah, Iraq, on April 4, 2004, Cpl. Dunham threw himself on top of a live grenade to save the lives of his fellow Marines. He died of his injuries eight days later at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Cpl. Jason Dunham was born in Scio, N.Y., Nov. 10, 1981,

The DDG-109 USS Jason Dunham is the 59th destroyer in her class. She was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and tomorrow, August 1, Cpl. Dunham’s mother, Debra Dunham, will have the honor of christening the ship named after her son by breaking a bottle of champagne over the hull of the USS Jason Dunham.

Debra Dunham will be joined at the ceremony by her husband, Dan, and their other three children. According to Mrs. Dunham, the initials of her and her husband were welded into the keel of the destroyer earlier this year.

The USS Jason Dunham will go to sea with several mementos donated by his family, including his dress blue uniform and a baseball bat. She is scheduled for commissioning in 2010

A second Medal of Honor recipient, this time a hero from the Afghanistan war, is being similarly honored. On May 8, 2008 Secretary Winter announced that the Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer would be named after Lt. Michael Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Afghanistan.

On June 28, 2005, Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, while leading a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan, came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position. “Mortally wounded while exposing himself to enemy fire, Murphy knowingly left his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit’s location and requested immediate support for his element. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until finally succumbing to his wounds. "

The DDG-112 USS Michael Murphy will be the 62nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and is also being built by Bath Iron Works. She is expected to be commissioned in 2011. This is a great tradition, just as the is the recognition of valor and heroism of our troops with appropriate awards and decorations.

The heroism of Marine Cpl. Dunham reminds me of the heroism of another Marine: Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta. During combat in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004, Sgt. Peralta found himself in a very similar situation as Cpl. Dunham. A fragmentation grenade was thrown at Peralta's squad.  The grenade came to rest near Sgt.Peralta, who was down after having been hit multiple times with AK-47 fire.  "Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Sergeant Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away. Sergeant Peralta succumbed to his wounds."

For his "undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty," Sergeant Peralta was nominated for the medal of Honor by the Commandant of the Marine Corps and by the Secretary of the Navy.

Regrettably, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, for some yet-to-be-determined reason, rejected the Marine Corps’ recommendation for Sgt. Peralta to receive the Medal of Honor. Instead, Peralta would be receiving the Navy Cross.

As I wrote in The Imperial Valley News on May 7, " Texan Applauds Congressman Filner's Sgt. Rafael Peralta Medal of Honor Campaign,", Congressman Bob Filner, Representative for California’s 51st Congressional District (Sgt. Peralta's district) has been instrumental in trying to get that decision revisited and reversed.

Hopefully, reason, gratitude and compassion will still prevail at the highest levels of our government, and, one day, another Navy destroyer will be named after a true American hero: the USS Peralta.