Vets Angry After Navy Sec. Names Warship After Former Dem Rep. John Murtha

(By Meredith Jessup, The Blaze) - Traditionally, secretaries of the Navy get the honor of naming warships in America’s Naval fleet. But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is running into stiff opposition over his latest pick: the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha.

“Both in uniform and in the halls of Congress, Chairman Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the Marine Corps and Congress,” Mabus said last spring following Murtha’s death. “His unwavering support of our sailors and Marines, and in particular of our wounded warriors, was well known and deeply appreciated.” Murtha was awarded two Purple Hearts during his service in Vietnam and served Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District from 1974 until his death last year.

But Mabus’ praise for Murtha is falling on the deaf ears of a number of former sailors and Marines who say naming a vessel for Murtha simply rewards a lawmaker who called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq during the height of war’s toughest fighting. Many veterans also point out that Murtha was also implicated in bribery schemes and engaged in much-criticized pork-barrel politics. Last Friday, one of Murtha’s former aides was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison for evading limits on campaign donations. Additionally, Murtha was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the FBI’s 1980 Abscam sting.