The tradition used to be that destroyer-types were named for naval heroes. One
thing about obscure names. Often, a name gets reused because of what the ships
carrying that name did in combat. There is not presently a USS Hoel or USS
Johnston yet their exploits at San Bernadino should rate something. It was once
said that there would always be a USS England in the USN...there isn't.

Names should harken back to our heritage rather than pander to political
sensibilities.

MJP

----- Original Message -----
From: kstoddard@...
To: NavWarGames@yahoogroups.com
Cc: navwargames@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 12:19 PM
Subject: [SPAM]Re: [NavWarGames] Re: Navy Names Virginia Class Submarine USS
John Warner



"As for another suggestion - only Medal of Honor winners - that supply
is totally inadequate."

This comment is essentially nonsense. 3458 people have been awarded the
Medal of Honor, more than enough to name every major warship in the WW II
USN much less modern ships, which is the focus of this discussion. Even if
you subtract the 1522 Civil War recipients, many of who received the medal
for acts which would not qualify them for the medal under the current
guidelines, there are still more than enough to name every US Destroyer
and Frigate which is currently in commission and planned.

As for naming ships for politicians, I still contend that the politician
in question should at least be dead before attaching the name. A situation
which applies to neither the USS Carl Vinson or John Stennis as the names
were chosen years before the ships were commissioned. Both Vinson and
Stennis died only months before either ship was completed.

Yet even when one considers the accomplishments of Vinson and Stennis,
they pale to insignificance to the contributions the the survival and
success of the United States when compared to Washington, Lincoln,
Eisenhower and even FDR. Theodore Roosevelt, despite his championing of
the navy, Harry Truman, and yes, even Ronald Regan, whom I admire greatly,
fall short as well. Men much more deserving of the honor would be Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison, or Andrew Jackson (for both his military service
and presidency.)

Kyle




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]