Re: Pentagon strips [Nancy Pelosi pal...] Harvey Milk's name from ship

On 6/30/2025 1:01 PM, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:
> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/pentagon-strips-harvey-milks-name-from-
> ship
> 
> WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the
> USNS Harvey Milk will be renamed after a World War II sailor who received
> the Medal of Honor, stripping the ship of the name of a slain gay rights
> activist who served during the Korean War.
> 
> In a video posted to social media, Hegseth said he was “taking the
> politics out of ship naming.”
> 
> The ship’s new name will honor Navy Chief Petty Officer Oscar V. Peterson,
> who was awarded the highest military decoration posthumously for his
> actions during the 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea in the Pacific.
> 
> WATCH: Sen. King tells Hegseth restoring Confederate names to military
> bases is an ‘insult’
> 
> The decision is the latest move by Hegseth to wipe away names of ships and
> military bases that were given by President Joe Biden’s Democratic
> administration, which in many cases chose to honor service members who
> were women, minorities, from the LBGTQ community and more.
> 
> It follows earlier actions by Hegseth and President Donald Trump, a
> Republican, to purge all programs, policies, books and social media
> mentions of references to diversity, equity and inclusion in the military
> and elsewhere.
> 
> Hegseth’s announcement comes during Pride Month — the same timing as the
> Pentagon’s campaign to force transgender troops out of the U.S. military.
> 
> “We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about
> political activists,” said Hegseth, who earlier this month ordered Navy
> Secretary John Phelan to put together a small team to rename the USNS
> Harvey Milk replenishment oiler.
> 
> READ MORE: Georgia Army base renamed Fort Benning, overturning 2023
> renaming to Fort Moore
> 
> He said Peterson’s “spirit of self-sacrifice and concern for his crewmates
> was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Navy.”
> 
> When Hegseth announced the decision to rename the ship, officials defended
> it as an effort to align with Trump and Hegseth’s objectives to “re-
> establish the warrior culture.”
> 
> Peterson served on the USS Neosho, which also was an oiler. The ship was
> damaged during the Battle of the Coral Sea, and even though Peterson was
> injured, he managed to close the bulkhead stop valves to keep the ship
> operational. He died of his wounds.
> 
> The Navy in 1943 named an escort ship after Peterson. The USS Peterson
> served for more than two decades and was decommissioned in June 1965.
> 
> The USNS Harvey Milk was named in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus,
> who said at the time that the John Lewis-class of oilers would be named
> after leaders who fought for civil and human rights.
> 
> Harvey Milk, who was portrayed by Sean Penn in an Oscar-winning 2008
> movie, served for four years in the Navy before he was forced out for
> being gay. He later became one of the first openly gay candidates elected
> to public office, in San Francisco. He was assassinated in 1978 by a
> disgruntled former city supervisor.

Very good.  All in favor of a Nancy Pelosi colleague being kicked to the 
curb.