THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180064
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON AND DENNIS JOYCE, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Tipper Gore came to the Peninsula Saturday to christen a submarine, the only kind of Navy ship still closed to women. But Gore made quick work of her formal duties, reserving her time for the women who help keep the service afloat - Navy wives.
The vice president's wife spoke to the Tidewater Ombudsman Assembly, in public and behind closed doors, then broke a bottle of champagne as well as Navy tradition at the christening of the Greeneville: She surrounded herself not with her own family, as ship's sponsors usually do, but with Navy wives.
Gore, 48 and the mother of four, is author of the 1985 book ``Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society.'' She carried a message of family ties during her Peninsula visit.
At Fort Monroe in Hampton, Gore told the 200 women of the ombudsman assembly that she and Al Gore - then a recent Harvard graduate about to embark on a newspaper career - were married the same year as the assembly started, 1970.
``We're still together, and you're still together, so we all must be doing something right,'' she said. ``I've figured out that what we have in common is the desire to strengthen families.''
Assembly members work as liaisons between military families and Navy commands in Hampton Roads. Gore said later she would take back to the White House the issues raised during their closed-door meeting - health care, housing and the stress of family separation when sailors are at sea.
Thousands of Norfolk-based sailors are at sea now on a mission off Haiti as military leaders await President Clinton's decision on whether to invade the island nation and try to restore its elected president.
As her husband was meeting with Clinton and military leaders at the Pentagon on Saturday, Gore was asked during her visit whether Americans will support the move. Polls show they do not.
``Yes, clearly,'' she said, ``especially after the president's speech the other night. The American people have always shown support for and rallied around their commander in chief. Our duty is to abide by his decisions.''
Haiti and meeting military demands in a post-Cold War world were central themes of many speeches at the christening, including those by Navy Secretary John B. Dalton and Adm. Bruce DeMars, director of the Navy's nuclear-propulsion program and a fill-in for Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy M. ``Mike'' Boorda. Boorda was busy with Haiti duties.
During the ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding, attended by about 2,000 people, Gore assured the family members attending that they are serving their country ``just as much as the person who's wearing the uniform.''
There was loud applause when Dalton pointed out that Gore had broken Navy tradition by choosing as her matrons of honor for the event Nancy Hatch, wife of the submarine's new commanding officer, Cmdr. Duane Hatch, and Donna Simmerman, wife of the chief of the boat, Master Chief Stan Simmerman.
``Naval folklore says that a ship is imbued with the spirit of her sponsor,'' Dalton said. ``In the course of her life this ship will have many commanding officers and many fine sailors will be part of her crew, but she will have only one sponsor. Greeneville is incredibly fortunate to have such a caring and concerned sponsor.''
The ship is named for Greeneville, a city in the Gores' home state of Tennessee that claims Davey Crockett and 17th President Andrew Johnson as former residents. After a year of preparation and tests, the $1 billion fast-attack submarine will be commissioned into service.
About 360 feet long, the ship has a crew of 140. It is the 52nd submarine and 28th Los Angeles-class sub built by Newport News Shipbuilding. Greeneville is one of six Navy ships being built at Newport News - four L.A.-class subs and two aircraft carriers. The next submarine scheduled for completion is the Cheyenne, in 1996. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
IAN MARTIN/Staff
Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, christens the submarine
Greeneville at Newport News Shipbuilding on Saturday. The ship is
named for a city in the Gores' home state of Tennessee.
About 2,000 people attended Saturday's ceremony at Newport News
Shipbuilding, which is building five other ships for the Navy,
including three more subs and two aircraft carriers.
by CNB