At a ceremony held on Friday, the Navy announced plans to honor former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ strength by christening a 419-foot combat vessel with her name. The tribute comes a year after the congresswoman was almost killed by a gunshot wound to the head in the Tucson shooting tragedy and weeks after her resignation from the House of Representatives to focus on her recovery. This will be the fourth time in American history that a Navy warship will be named in honor of a woman. Captain Pamela Kunze, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’ spokeswoman said, “It is very rare for a warship to be named for a woman.”
Mabus reported that he chose the warship’s name as a tribute to the valor exemplified by Giffords and her astronaut husband, retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly. Mabus said, “The name the ship bears, and the story represented by that name, will inspire all those who come in contact with this ship.” Mabus also said Giffords is a woman who “has become synonymous for courage, who has inspired the nation with remarkable resiliency and showed the possibilities of the human spirit.”
