Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)
Posted on 03/13/2012 5:49:15 PM PDT by chessplayer
That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. The famed aircraft carrier USS Enterprise departed Sunday on its final deployment, the 22nd of its amazing career of more than 50 years. Later this year, the Big E will return home to be decommissioned. The US Navy has a new carrier in the works, designated CVN-80 but as yet unnamed (Enterprise is CVN-65, for those keeping score). Given the odd decisions on naming naval ships, Mark Krikorian has begun circulating a petition to transfer the name Enterprise to CVN-80 — or find a more appropriate name than limited imaginations have suggested of late:
"But after this year the U.S. Navy will no longer have an Enterprise, which is why there’s a petition to name the next planned carrier, CVN-80, the USS Enterprise. Sign it, because we’ve gotten into the habit of naming our greatest warships after politicians, and not even dead ones — one of the newest carriers is the USS George H. W. Bush. Look, I voted for the guy, and he was a whole lot better than the current occupant, but nothing named by the U.S. government — not a building, not a scholarship program, certainly not one of the greatest warships built by mankind — should be named after a living person. Except for posthumous Medal of Honor recipients, it seems to me you should be dead for 50 years, preferably 100, before your name is even eligible to be considered for a naval ship."
"And while we’re naming ships after Jimmy Carter and John Murtha and Bob Hope, keep in mind there’s no USS Lexington or Yorktown or Saratoga or Midway or Khe Sanh or, if we want to name them after people, Benjamin Franklin or John Adams or Jefferson or Madison or Monroe or Jackson. There have been nearly 1,000 Marine and Navy combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan — any one of those is more appropriate as the name of a ship than the USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS."
We have always had an Enterprise, right?
There should always be one.
70 or so years yes. Dont think it predated ww2
In before seamen jokes.
The next Republican president doesn’t have a hair on his @$$ if he doesn’t name a garbage scow, the USS Barry Soetoro.
The USS Britney Spears? It better be a submarine because you know she’s going to go down.
People should have to do more than fight the Battle of the Beltway to warrant having any ship named for them, but the most important thing they should do is DIE!
How about the USS “BJ Clinton”
only female crew, of course
Click on pic for past Navair pings. Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist. The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation. This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
And a huge ice maker.
We have always had an Enterprise, right?
Addendum: Unless they are Medal of Honor recipients or do something exceptional(preferably in the military)that would warrant the honor of having a ship named for them sooner.
No on Giffords, Jimmy Carter, and John Murtha.
I bet that Obama gets a carrier named after himself before he leaves office.
How about Enterprise A.
Actually in this case maybe the Enterprise I?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise
Conservatives have a sense of honor and history. Communists do not. Therefore, communists will be “remembered” through monuments, while constitutional Repbulic people will be forgotten.
Something has to change. But the GOP won’t be an opposition party so nothing will change and liberals remake history. The constitutional Republic is forgotten from neglect.
Will that be a RAT Carrier, Plauge Carrier, or a Flea Carrier?
Gabby Giffords, whose number one accomplishment was getting shot in the head.
Ideas:
USS Karl Marx
USS Derrick Bell
USS Angela Davis
USS Symbionese
USS Norm Dix
USS Harry Haywood
USS Gus Hall
USS Aleister Crowley
USS Alger Hiss
Naming carriers has never been fine. They should not having started it by renaming CV-42 after that dead Commie. Battlefields and US ships were a good souce of names. IMHO there should always be a carrier named after the battle of Midway or Coral Sea. Both places where naval aviators made their names shine.
Only one name should be considered Hornet!
USS Occupy
USS Alinsky
USS Lewinsky
USS Rezko
USS Pelosi
USS Reid
USS Guevera
I believe “Old Ironsides” was the USS Constitution. You know, that document that Hussain lectured on but has pretty much ignored?
I think it is time to honor American warriors. How about USS Crazy Horse or USS Sitting Bull? I seem to remember a star ship in Star Trek named the Crazy Horse.
There should always be an Enterprise in the fleet and others I’d approve of that weren’t named for naval battles would be Constellation and Kitty Hawk. Names like Independence, Intrepid are ok too.
Might as well have the USS Abortion, the USS Contraception, the USS Bankrupt, the USS Spreadin’ The Wealth, the USS Kenyan, the USS Wookie, the USS Saul Alinsky, and the USS Planned Parenthood.
Many of these things the left worships and would glad name a warship.
Why does the Enterprise need to be taken out of service??
Seems to me that we will be at war in the middle east within two or so years, and an Aircraft Carrier, even though aging, is one hell of alot better on the battle line, rather than sitting on a rat infested wharf back home.
And an Aircraft Carrier has an advanced electronic fleet surrounding it for protection
While Zer0 and Panetta try to decimate our Navy, here’s an operating ship, unreplaceable for at least six years, that’s about to be decommissioned.
Stupid! Makes no sense!
USS Gabby Giffords ...I understand that it has a hole in the stern and half the Bridge and CIC is missing.....
Here is a NAVAIR story not really worth a thread but interesting.......
Two great stories; please read them both
STORY NUMBER ONE
Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago . Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason.. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in-mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day.. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block..
Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.
Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.
And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a good example..
One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.
Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street .. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he would ever pay.. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.
The poem read:
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.”
STORY NUMBER TWO
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.
One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.
His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.
As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American Fleet.
The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow
divert them from the fleet.
Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes.. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.
Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.
Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of WW II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of honor.
A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son...
Kitty Hawk is the next best thing to naming a ship after a naval air battle. Enterprise, Constellation, Independence and Intrepid were ships.
Comfort Ship right? Hospital ships use to be known as comfort ships.
Thank you for that post. It cheered me up during my early morning misery.
Heck, going down is what she does best, and she’s usually full of se...you know the rest. Oops I did it again.
Nimitz, I can live with..even naming them after Presidents..though Ford's a bummer..but when they named one after John Stennis..a segregationist senator..well...that really scraped the bottom of the barrel..there were so many more that were worthy..
Thanks for the stories!
May I steal them ?
uss constitution
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