Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510230139
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PORT HUENEME, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
The USS Stethem is the first U.S. Navy ship commissioned at Port Hueneme's Naval Construction Battalion Center in its 53-year history. The destroyer's namesake, a 23-year-old petty officer and Seabee diver, was killed by Arab terrorists during the hijacking of a TWA airliner to Beirut in 1985.
During the ceremony, Stethem's mother, Patricia, presented her son's Bible as a gift to the vessel.
``We never solicited this, but it's been a happy point in our lives since this happened to him,'' Stethem's father, Dick, said of the ship-naming.
The 8,600-ton, 505-foot ship, built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., will be based in San Diego.
The guided-missile destroyer glided into the Port of Hueneme Tuesday to prepare for the pomp and ceremony of the commissioning. An estimated 5,000 people attended, including several admirals.
Red-white-and-blue bunting was draped around the $900 million warship, and the ceremony featured a 17-gun salute and blasts from the ship's horn.
``The Stethem is the most capable offensive and most survivable ship in the world today. We stand ready to join our sister ships in executing our mission, `Forward ... From the Sea,''' said Cmdr. Steven Miller, the ship's captain.
Stethem (pronounced STEED-um) was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star in 1986 for his heroism and bravery during the terrorist hijacking. He was singled out from the TWA passengers and killed June 14, 1985 - his body thrown to the runway as the airliner sat on the tarmac in Athens, Greece.
Among those at the commissioning was Thomas Murry, 68, a hostage on the jetliner.
``If I had the chance, face-to-face, to say, 'Spare him. Take me.' I think I would have,'' Murry said. ``But they never gave us a chance.''
by CNB