Is there irony that the latest warship to be christened is named after shooting survivor Gabby Giffords. Wouldn’t a medical ship had been more appropriate – PB/TK
Gabrielle Giffords: warship launched in name of shooting survivor – AP/ June 10 2017
The US navy’s newest combat ship, the USS Gabrielle Giffords, has gone into service carrying the name of the former Arizona congresswoman who was injured in a 2011 shooting.
Giffords told a crowd at the ceremony in the Texas Gulf coast city of Galveston that she was honored the 421ft ship will carry her name and the vessel is “strong and tough, just like her crew”.
“I thought of you in my darkest days, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of the United States of America … You make me proud. You make America proud,” Giffords said, as she stood next to her husband, the former astronaut Mark Kelly, who was in the navy. Kelly lived in Galveston county when he was stationed at Johnson Space Center in suburban Houston during his Nasa service.
Speakers including Hillary Clinton said Giffords’s strength and courage made her worthy of being the namesake of the ship, the USS Gabrielle Giffords. “Nothing gives me greater joy and honor than seeing this great ship named for someone whose strength and resilience is a great lesson to us all,” Clinton said.
Others who attended the ceremony included House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, former vice-president Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, who served as the ship’s sponsor.
Continue to theguardian.com article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/11/gabrielle-giffords-warship-launched-in-name-of-shooting-survivor
