JFK would have been 94 years young on his birthday, Sunday May 29th....He would have likely still had a spring in his step, a wink and smile for the crowd and a story or two to share.....He was the last true leader we had as President....
Many like to say that of Ronald Reagan, but Reagan was an actor. He portrayed who you wanted to see and "played" the part.....JFK was a TRUE LEADER...someone in whom Leadership was ingrained in the DNA.
John, we harldy knew ye.....we miss you and only wish that we had been able to hold on to you a little while longer.
Navy's next carrier to be named after JFK
By Lauren King
Meredith Kruse
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 30, 2011
John F. Kennedy will have a second aircraft carrier named after him.
The Navy announcement came Sunday, on what would have been the President and World War II naval veteran's 94th birthday.
Designated CVN-79, the carrier will be the second in the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers. The first, the Gerald R. Ford, CVN-78, is scheduled to be delivered to the fleet in September 2015. It was unclear when the John F. Kennedy would be completed and delivered.
The new carrier is under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Ford-class aircraft carriers are designed to replace Enterprise- and Nimitz-class carriers. The new carriers should save more than $5 billion in ownership costs during their planned 50-year service lives compared with the Nimitz-class carriers, a Navy news release said.
They will retain the same hulls as the Nimitz class but will contain several advanced technology systems, including electromagnetic aircraft launching systems, advanced arresting gear, dual-band radar, a redesigned smaller island and a new propulsion plant.
The Kennedy and other Ford-class carriers will be the premier asset for crisis response, humanitarian relief and striking power in major combat operations, the Navy said.
"President John F. Kennedy exemplified the meaning of service, not just to country, but service to all humanity," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. "I am honored to have the opportunity to name the next aircraft carrier after this great sailor and inspirational leader, and to keep the rich tradition and history of USS John F. Kennedy sailing in the U.S. Fleet."
Kennedy entered the Navy in October 1941. Serving in the Pacific on a ship known as PT-109, he was in command on Aug. 2, 1943, when the ship was struck by an enemy vessel and split in half. Kennedy led the crew to safety over the next six days and later received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart.
The earlier carrier named after Kennedy, which bore the hull designation CV-67, was decommissioned in 2007 after serving for nearly 40 years. It stayed for several months in Hampton Roads before being towed to Philadelphia. Efforts are under way to preserve it as a museum in Rhode Island.
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