Austal sends newest warship into action
It's not often the US Navy names a ship after a living person.
In the case of Gabrielle Giffords — the former congresswoman who survived an attempted assassination four years ago — she also got to go to the christening of the Littoral Combat Ship.
Ms Giffords got repeated standing ovations at an emotional and patriotic ceremony amid red, white and blue bunting in sweltering Mobile on Saturday.
Walking with a cane after a recent cycling accident, she spoke briefly in a halting but enthusiastic voice.
“She’s stealthy, she will defend freedom around the world,” she said of the USS Gabrielle Giffords, an aluminium trimaran built by WA company Austal at its Mobile shipbuilding yard.
Ms Giffords was shot in the head in Arizona in 2011 by a man who killed six people in the attack. The Democrat has campaigned for gun controls since her recovery.
Her husband Mark Kelly, a retired naval captain and astronaut, said the christening was one of the biggest days of Ms Giffords’ life.
“She was really behind our military 100 per cent,” Capt. Kelly said. “To have a ship named after her is such a great honour.
“She’s still working on her recovery. She’s coming back and getting stronger.”
At a “mast stepping” ceremony earlier, Ms Giffords placed personal items in a metal box to be welded under the mast.
They included a US flag patch Capt. Kelly wore on a space shuttle and two Purple Hearts, an military award for troops injured in combat, that servicemen donated to her after she was shot.
Australian US Ambassador Kim Beazley, who was present, said Ms Giffords was a heroic figure who had a delightful reputation in Congress as a caring person who was most mindful of the military but from a human point of view.
Jill Biden, wife of US Vice-President Joe Biden, christened the ship with champagne. The Bidens also had a family tragedy with the death of son Beau from brain cancer last month.
