New life from the rubble
Published Feb 11, 2008When people of faith think of christenings, it usually conjures up an image involving infants, parents, godparents, in a church setting, with a clergyman, sacramental oil and water and more. When the U.S. Navy plans a christening, it’s about celebrating a different kind of new life—a ship fresh out of the yard and ready for launch—complete with a big bottle of bubbly, military brass, dignitaries and the media.
On March 1 at Avondale, La., the stars and stripes will be hoisted for the first time over the USS New York at its christening. The amphibious assault vessel is a 684-foot warship designed to carry out special operations against terrorists, according to a report from the Associated Press. “Never Forget,” the ship’s motto, was chosen because it was built from tons of scrap steel salvaged from the collapsed World Trade Center in New York following the 9/11 catastrophe.
Construction, which began in 2003, was halted for a time when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, but the damage to the work-in-progress was not enough to stop the steelworkers who forged ahead. In fact, some of those men and women who found themselves homeless after the hurricane set up temporary housekeeping in the shipyard, living on a barge and other facilities provided by the owner.
Two more Navy vessels in the same class with the ability to carry a crew of over 300 sailors and a host of Marines are expected to be built and commissioned in the future. One, to be named the USS Arlington, will be cast from steel hauled to the shipyard from the Pentagon after the post-9/11 clean-up efforts; the second ship, the USS Somerset, will bear the name of the site in Pennsylvania where terrorists took down United Airlines flight 93 on that fateful September day in 2001.
Just as the waters of baptism wash over us, nourishing our souls so that we can be stalwart in holding firm and defending our faith, the christening of this battleship is a sign that our country intends to be prepared and ready to protect and defend all that we hold dear.
Meanwhile, let us send blessings to those women and men who will serve on this ship and pray that the state-of-the-art vessel, all shining with recycled steel, will be called to peacekeeping missions and humanitarian endeavors instead of war.