Mother of slain LI SEAL christens warship
Maureen Murphy, mother of Medal of Honor recipient and Navy Seal Lt. Michael P. Murphy, smashes a bottle of champagne across the bow of the DDG-112, a Arleigh Burke Class destroyer that is named for her son. The christening ceremony took place at the General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. (May 7, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
BATH, Maine
As noon broke on what would have been her slain son's 35th birthday, Maureen Murphy Saturday swung a bottle of champagne across the massive bow of a new Navy warship, officially naming it in his honor.
"I christen thee the DDG-112, Michael Murphy," she said at a sun-splashed christening ceremony for the billion-dollar guided-missile destroyer that is nearing completion at Bath Iron Works.
"I just want to say it will be an honor and a privilege to be the sponsor of the USS Michael Murphy," she said in remarks punctuated by efforts to compose herself. And in an emotional moment, she addressed her son: " 'Happy birthday, baby.' "
The moment fulfilled a pledge by former Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter to name the ship for Murphy, of Patchogue, the elite Navy SEAL member who in 2007 became the only sailor since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor.
The two-hour ceremony, in the chilly sunshine of a Maine spring day, drew an estimated 3,000 people, including the state's governor, Paul LePage, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations. Speaker after speaker noted that the Navy SEALS are the branch that took down Osama bin Laden last week.
Workers streamed into the site from neighborhoods overlooking the storied riverside shipyard to watch Saturday's solemn ceremony, often with young children in tow. They cheered as red, white and blue streamers shot from a cannon after Maureen Murphy christened the ship. Outside the factory's gates, meanwhile, peace activists carrying banners reminded passersby of the ship's cost, which a shipyard spokesman said would reach $1.1 billion.
Fifteen members of Murphy's SEAL delivery Team One attended the ship's christening, as did about 20 New York City firefighters from an East Harlem company. Members of the firehouse had given Murphy a shoulder patch carrying the firehouse logo, which Murphy's team members wore to honor 9/11 first responders the day the team was ambushed.
"Michael was a very modest person, so he would have been overwhelmed and hesitant to take the spotlight like this," said Owen O'Callaghan, a longtime friend of Murphy's who was a firefighter at the East Harlem company before becoming a Suffolk County police officer.
The ship is to be commissioned into naval service in mid-2012. Its home port will be Hawaii, where Murphy was stationed before his final mission.
Murphy, a 1994 graduate of Patchogue-Medford High School, was killed on June 28, 2005, when he led a four-man reconnaissance team of Navy SEALs on a search for a high-ranking member of the Taliban in the lawless mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Murphy's team was surrounded by dozens of heavily armed Taliban fighters.
Only one team member survived a withering two-hour firefight that chased Murphy's men down steep alpine ravines. In addition to the two other SEALS killed in the firefight, all 16 Special Operations soldiers who arrived to help died as well when their helicopter was shot down.
And Murphy's father reminded the audience at Saturday's ceremony about the bravery of the others. "This ship may carry the name of our son, Michael Murphy, but it bears the spirit of 18 other warriors," Dan Murphy said. He choked with emotion as he referred to his son as "my buddy boy."
In 2008, Winter went to a ceremony at the Lake Ronkonkoma beach where Murphy once worked as a lifeguard and announced that a ship would be named for Murphy.
The christening ceremony culminated three days of festivities surrounding Murphy's battle-gray namesake, a ship whose massive hull -- stretching the length of more than 1 1/2 football fields -- rested on metal jacks.
Cmdr. Thomas Shultz, who will head the new warship, said the valor displayed by the SEAL teammates who died will provide inspiration for the ship's 312-member crew.
"You've got to remember that," Shultz told crew members during a pre-christening ceremony Friday. "We're bringing that fighting spirit onto this ship. You've got to have that same spirit Michael had."
USS Michael Murphy
Named after Navy SEAL from Patchogue who posthumously won Medal of Honor
Destroyer of the Arleigh Burke-class
9,200 tons, 510 feet long
Draft: 33 feet
Top speed: 30 knots
Crew: 380
'No one wants to pay more taxes than they need to' Nearly 20,000 Long Islanders work in town and city government. A Newsday investigation found a growing number of them are making more than $200,000 a year. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.
'No one wants to pay more taxes than they need to' Nearly 20,000 Long Islanders work in town and city government. A Newsday investigation found a growing number of them are making more than $200,000 a year. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.
