The USS George H.W. Bush

[Gary_C]

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - President George W. Bush landed Saturday on the USS George H.W. Bush, a new aircraft carrier named after his father - the ultimate honor for a decorated Navy pilot from World War II.

"So what do you give a guy who has been blessed and has just about everything he has ever needed?" the president asked the estimated 20,000 gathered for the commissioning at Naval Station Norfolk. "Well, an aircraft carrier."

The steel-gray vessel is more than three football fields long, one in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are the largest warships on the world. Its price tag is just as hefty: $6.2 billion.

"Laura and I are thrilled to be here to help commission an awesome ship and to honor an awesome man," Bush said.

The elder Bush, 84, told the ship's crew, his voice quavering at times with emotion, that they will form "an unbroken line of patriots protecting this special piece of American territory."

"As someone who has stood that watch and remembers the quiet solitude of that experience, I know you will find comfort and inspiration," he said, "particularly in the night sky, where it is basking in the splendor of the night stars that you will truly understand the majesty of creation and bear witness to the certain hand of God."

This is the tenth and final Nimitz class class carrier to protect freedom around the world. I have heard it said that if just one of these carrier task force groups pulls up along the coast of any country, there are only a few countries in the world that are not immediately outgunned. And an old Air Force Pilot once told me the biggest problem in finding a carrier on radar was telling the difference between the carrier and an island.  :D :D

[wi woodcutter]

                                                                Money well spent

[Norm]

She's a beauty and a great way to honor a war hero.

[zopi]

I'm gonna go spend about 4.5 hours looking at one in on radar in a minute...they aren't THAT big..

I have some good friends on that boat..

[DanG]

Whether you agree with his politics or not, the fact remains that George H. W. Bush was a distinguished war hero of the U.S., long before he entered politics.  I cannot think of anybody whose name would ride more gracefully upon the bow of that great warship.

[WH_Conley]

All I can say is I agree wit DanG.

[rebocardo]

I guess he never evoked the war hero image, though he certainly was one. Certainly a fitting tribute to a man that served his country well and typical of the great generation. Reading the story actually made my eyes mist a bit 

[james]

most war heroes try to avoid invoking that image
james

[ellmoe]

   If you read the book "The Flyboys" (I think I'm correct with the name) you will learn of the senior Bush's adventures in the South Pacific. He did his duty there, for sure.

   By the way, that air force pilot must have never landed on a carrier at night, during a storm. As the son of a carrier pilot I can tell you they don't look that big on approach! :D

Mark

[rowerwet]

So any gueses what boat Clinton gets his name on? I would make a lot of people mad with my suggestion.

[zopi]

The Ellis Island Ferry? :D

They ought to name the next CVN after the entire golden generation...the boys who fought and died
were all heroes, no doubt, but the entire generation sacrificed their way of life on the heels of a depression to save the world from darkness...

There aren't may American families who were not touched by tragedy in those years.

I recommend a book called "The Flags of our Fathers" It's the story of the flag raising
on Suribachi....it's a fascinating story, and one that puts true heroism in the setting it deserves..quiet dignity. Those guys didn't fight for an ideal, or freedom, or a girl back home..they fought to keep their brothers alive, because their brothers were fighting to keep them alive...

Hopefully in the next couple of years there will be a book coming out about the men of the Arizona.
I was contacted by the author a short time ago looking for information on my great uncle..she thought it was neat that I'm doing what I'm doing and answering her questions about a couple of generations ago...filled her in on the firecontrol systems on the ship too.. <G>

The Flyboys is a good read too.

[Raider Bill]

Another good read is "The greatest generation"

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Wished I had one of them boats.  Shame we do not use them for what they are for. ;D

  A good book to read so as to have some ideal of combat is "Red Badge of Courage".  To me it was a bit of a slow hard read with all them big words but the story is so true on the making of War Heros.  You will then grasp the humbleness of true ones.