Latest news with #USSNeosho
San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Harvey Milk name erased from Navy ship during Pride Month
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the U.S. Navy has renamed a ship honoring slain gay rights icon Harvey Milk, replacing it with the name of a World War II hero. The decision, which critics called politically motivated and timed to Pride Month, marks a stark reversal in the Navy's recent approach to commemorating civil rights leaders. The fleet oiler, formerly known as the USNS Harvey Milk, will now bear the name of Oscar V. Peterson, a Medal of Honor recipient who died saving his ship, the USS Neosho, during a 1942 Japanese attack. 'We are taking the politics out of ship naming,' Hegseth said in a video posted to X. 'People want to be proud of the ship they're sailing in.' I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. We are taking the politics out of ship naming. — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 27, 2025 The ship was christened in 2021 under a policy from the Obama-era Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to name oilers after civil and human rights champions. Milk, a Navy veteran who was forced to accept an 'other than honorable' discharge due to his sexuality, later became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. before his assassination in 1978. An internal Navy memo revealed that the renaming aligns with President Donald Trump's and Hegseth's goals to 're-establish the warrior culture.' The timing — days after WorldPride celebrations in Washington, D.C. — has drawn intense backlash. 'The removal of Harvey Milk's name from a naval vessel — during Pride Month, no less — is absolutely shameful,' state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said in a statement when the news of the name change first emerged this month. 'Brave LGBTQ veterans worked for years to achieve the naming of a ship for Harvey. Now Trump and Hegseth are wiping it away due to straight-up bigotry.' The USNS Harvey Milk is one of 17 vessels built to honor civil rights heroes, including civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; women's rights activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist Sojourner Truth. 'Donald Trump's assault on veterans has hit a new low.' California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on social media this month. 'Harvey Milk wasn't just a civil rights icon — he was a Korean War combat veteran whose commander called him 'outstanding.' Stripping his name from a Navy ship won't erase his legacy as an American icon, but it does reveal Trump's contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect.'
UPI
15 hours ago
- Politics
- UPI
Hegseth: USNS Havey Milk to be renamed USNS Oscar V. Peterson
1 of 5 | Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday, the USNS Harvey Milk will be re-named the USNS Oscar V. Peterson, adding the Defense Department is "taking the politics out of ship naming.' File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo June 27 (UPI) -- The USNS Harvey Milk is being renamed after Oscar V. Peterson, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Friday. "I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson," Hegseth said on X, in a post accompanied by a video. "We are taking the politics out of ship naming. We're not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration," Hegseth said in the video Friday. Peterson received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in World War II, after the Navy chief petty officer was wounded in battle. "During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May of 1942, Chief Watertender Peterson led a repair party on the USS Neosho. The ship was severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers, and the entire repair party was either killed or severely wounded," Hegseth said Friday. "Peterson himself was gravely wounded, yet he managed to single-handedly close the bulkhead stop valves, thereby helping to keep the ship operational." Hegseth previously confirmed he had ordered the U.S. Navy to rename the replenishment oiler, which bears the name of Milk, a gay rights activist assassinated in 1978. The Defense Secretary at the time said the move was being made to align "with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of re-establishing the warrior culture." A Defense Department official said at the time the renaming was intentionally done during Pride month. Milk won a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. The U.S. Navy veteran served in the Korean War and became the first openly gay person in the country to be elected to public office. His name has remained synonymous with the LGBTQ movement. Milk was assassinated the year after taking office and was in 2009 posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. The decision to remove his name from one of the six John Lewis Class ships was met with protest from Democrats. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the time called the decision "shameful." Pelosi's Congressional District includes San Francisco. The ship was first named after Milk in 2016, becoming the first naval vessel named after an openly-gay person. It was launched in 2021.
Business Insider
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
The Pentagon stripped the name of gay rights icon Harvey Milk from a Navy ship. Here's what it's called now.
Announcing that the Defense Department is finished with "political" ship names, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a video message Friday that the Navy ship honoring gay rights icon Harvey Milk has a new name. The John Lewis-class replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk is now named after Medal of Honor recipient Oscar V. Peterson, a chief petty officer who posthumously received the nation's highest honor for military valor in action. Peterson led a repair party on the Cimarron-class fleet oiler USS Neosho afloat, which had been severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. His entire repair party was either killed or seriously wounded. Though gravely injured during the repair efforts, Peterson managed to close the bulkhead stop valves to keep the ship operational. The sailor later died of his injuries. "People want to be proud of the ship they're sailing in," Hegseth said, calling Peterson's actions historic and heroic that kept with the traditions of the Navy rather than honoring politics and activism like the last administration. USNS Harvey Milk was named in the final months of the Obama administration to honor civil rights icon who had served in the Navy before being forced out due to his sexual orientation. Milk had been a Navy diver. He was a national icon within the gay rights movement and the first openly gay man to be elected into public office in California. As a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he helped usher in a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. He was later assassinated for this bill in late 1978. Milk posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. The renaming comes at the tail-end of Pride Month, which is one of the identity celebration months that the US Department of Defense declared "dead" earlier this year. The announcement also comes just days after the 10-year anniversary of the federal legalization of gay marriage in the US through the Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges decision back in 2015. USNS Harvey Milk was one of six ships dedicated to prominent civil rights leaders. Other figures honored with ship names include Sojourner Truth, John Lewis, and Robert F. Kennedy. When the ship was launched in 2021, then-Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said that the service needed to "not just to amend the wrongs of the past but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ community leaders." "For far too long, sailors like Lt. Milk were forced into the shadows or, worse yet, forced out of our beloved Navy," Del Toro said. "That injustice is part of our Navy history, but so is the perseverance of all who continue to serve in the face of injustice." Since President Donald Trump again took office in January of this year, his administration has undertaken efforts to eliminate anything seen as affiliated with diversity, equity, and inclusion within DoD and across the federal government. That includes many projects, content, and efforts related to women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Trump's Pentagon has also reversed efforts to rename Army bases honoring Confederate officers, bringing back the original names but with the odd catch that they now honor soldiers who happen to share last names with those Confederate officers. These include Army installations like Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, and Fort Lee. The changes to the Army base names were originally a result of a 2021 Congressional mandate prohibiting the naming of military installations after Confederate personnel. In his video message, Hegseth said the Pentagon was "taking the politics out of ship naming." The names of US Navy vessels are typically picked by political appointees such as the Navy secretary. Historically, the conventions around naming have been left up to the secretary and shifted based on the administration's priorities and focuses. Ships have been named after presidents who did and didn't serve in uniform, civil rights activists, and other officials. Renaming a Navy ship already in service is rare. Some recent changes include renaming the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USNS Robert Smalls, which was originally USNS Chancellorsville after the Civil War battle, and the Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship USNS Marie Tharp, originally named the USNS Maury after Matthew Fontaine Maury, an oceanographer who resigned from the Navy to become a commander in the Confederate States Navy during the Civil War. It's unclear exactly why Hegseth announced the name change for the Milk, as this role is typically done by the Navy secretary. Renaming a Navy vessel comes with costs of repainting, reprinting, new documentation, and other related fees. It's unclear how long that will take or how much it will cost.
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Who is Oscar Verner Peterson, after which naval ship USNS Harvey Milk has been renamed?
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the new name for the naval ship USNS Harvey Milk will be the USNS Oscar V. Peterson ."We are taking the politics out of ship naming," Hegseth said in a statement to officially announce the name change. In a video posted to the Department of Defense X account Friday morning, Hegseth said the oiler ship, originally named for the gay San Francisco city councilor assassinated in 1978, would now be known as the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. 'Well, I'm pleased to officially announce that the Department of the Navy is renaming the fleet replenishment oiler, formerly known as the USNS Harvey Milk, to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson,' Hegseth proclaimed in the video. Peterson, Hegseth said, was a chief watertender who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during an attack on the USS Neosho by Japanese bombers during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942. ALSO READ: New twist in Trump's immigration crackdown: Kristi Noem drops bombshell, names target countries accepting deported migrants Live Events Who is Oscar V Peterson? According to Pacific Wrecks, Oscar Verner Peterson was born August 27, 1899 in Prentice, Wisconsin. On December 8, 1920 he enlisted in California into the U.S. Navy (USN) and was assigned to sea duty. During World War II, Peterson attained the rank of Chief Water Tender (CWT) aboard USS Neosho (AO-23) operating as a fleet oiler in the Pacific. He was serving as chief watertender on the U.S.S. Neosho when it came under air attack by the Japanese in the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 7, 1942, during WWII. On May 7, 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea around 11:15am USS Neosho (AO-23) was targeted by D3A Val dive bombers and severely damaged and Peterson was severely wounded. Despite his injuries, Peterson was in charge of a repair party and managed to close the bulkhead stop valves and was severely burned but saved the ship from sinking. On May 11, 1942 the surviving crew members including Peterson were rescued by USS Henley (DD-391) then at 2:28pm afterwards scuttled USS Neosho (AO-23) with gunfire. On May 13, 1942 Peterson died of his wounds. He earned the Medal of Honor and Purple Heart. Peterson is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the tablets of the missing. Peterson died as a result of the battle and was buried at sea. But he later received the Medal of Honor "for extraordinary courage and conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty while in charge of a repair party" during the attack, his citation says. "Lacking assistance because of injuries to the other members of his repair party and severely wounded himself, Peterson, with no concern for his own life, closed the bulkhead stop valves and in so doing received additional burns which resulted in his death," it says. "His spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty, characteristic of a fine seaman, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country." Peterson was 42 years old and left behind a wife and two sons.
American Military News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Video: SECDEF Hegseth unveils new name for the USNS Harvey Milk
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson on Friday. By changing the ship's name to honor a U.S. Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient instead of a gay rights activist, Hegseth claimed the Trump administration is 'taking the politics out of ship naming.' In a video message shared Friday on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth said, 'Well, I'm pleased to officially announce that the Department of the Navy is renaming the fleet replenishment oiler, formerly known as the USNS Harvey Milk, to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.' 'We are taking the politics out of ship naming,' Hegseth added. 'We're not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration. Instead, we're renaming the ship after a United States Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as it should be.' In Friday's video message, the secretary of defense claimed that the USNS Harvey Milk was being renamed to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson in honor of a former Navy chief because 'people want to be proud of the ship they're sailing in.' READ MORE: SECDEF Hegseth orders Navy to rename ship named after gay rights activist: Report Hegseth explained that Peterson led a repair party on the USS Neosho during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942. Hegseth noted that the USS Neosho was 'severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers,' and all the members of Peterson's repair party were severely wounded or killed. While Peterson was 'gravely wounded' in the battle, Hegseth said he was able to 'single-handedly' close the ship's bulkhead stop valves, which kept the ship operational during the battle. 'In performing his historic actions and heroic actions, Peterson received additional injuries and burns, which tragically resulted in his death, but his spirit of self-sacrifice and concern for his crew mates was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Navy, and for his heroic actions, Oscar Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor,' Hegseth added. I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. We are taking the politics out of ship naming. — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 27, 2025 Earlier this month, Hegseth ordered the U.S. Navy to change the name of the USNS Harvey Milk. According to CBS News, the ship was originally named after Harvey Milk under former President Barack Obama's administration in August of 2016. The outlet noted that Milk was a gay rights activist and the first openly gay official to be elected in California. Milk was assassinated in 1978. A memorandum obtained by explained that the ship's name change was part of the 'alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.'
