[YankeeReb]

There are dozens of other ways to honor Rep Giffords, but this practice of naming ships after individuals who had nothing to do with the military really bothers me.

Amen. Look how long it took for us to get a USS Ronald Reagan, and no President in my lifetime was a bigger supporter of the Navy and the military in general than he was.

I suppose it could be worse, we could get the USS Baraq Hussein Obama (MMM MMM MMM)

[tpuskett]

This reminds me of Eric Klinghaufer getting the “metal of honor “ for getting thrown off the Achille Lauro passenger ship in his wheel chair by a Palestinian. You can’t make up how misplaced that is. A”hero” is someone who does something beyond the call of regular duty and who stands out and usually kills a bunch of enemy soldiers. Standing there getting shot does not make one an icon. Did she save anybody? Have we lost our collective mind? I can’t even fathom how bad the navy must be these days.

[skeeter]

The Brits had their HMS Terror, Indomitable, Eagle & Warspite. The US had their USS Enterprise, Texas, Kidd, & Bonhomme Richard.

I guess the modern sailor finding himself (or herself) fighting aboard the Gabby Giffords is just another sign of the times.

[tanknetter]

Look how long it took for us to get a USS Ronald Reagan

Respectfully, CVN-76 was the first carrier ordered after Reagan left office. It would have been completely inappropriate, very unseemly, to have a carrier named after him while he was still in office.

CVN-75 was the last carrier ordered while Reagan was President - in mid-1988. It was originally to be named the "USS United States", but the name was changed to "Harry S Truman" at about the same time CVN-76 was named.

Two points: First, having a carrier of all things named after Truman is an abomination. Just google "Revolt of the Admirals 1949" or "USS United States CVB-58" to understand why.

Second, it's somewhat poetic to have Reagan's name hung on a ship carrying the number "76" given the relevance of that number to our nation.