Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took to social media Friday morning to announce the U.S. Navy had officially changed the name of a fleet replenishment oiler previously named after gay rights icon and Navy veteran Harvey Milk.
The Navy altered the ship’s moniker from Harvey Milk to the Oscar V. Peterson, a Navy veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who received the award for leading a repair party during an attack on the Cimarron-class fleet oiler Neosho on May 7, 1942.
After the Neosho sustained multiple fatalities and damage to its structure, Peterson, a chief watertender at the time, saved the ship by closing its bulkhead stop valves. He did so despite sustaining injuries and burns that resulted in his death.
“We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” Hegseth said in a video uploaded to X.
People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in, he said.
Hegseth emphasized the new naming process was not political and criticized the previous administration for engaging in political activism.
The Harvey Milk was named in July 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who voiced a commitment to naming the John Lewis-class of oilers after civil and human rights icons. It was christened in 2021.
Hegseth first announced June 3 his intentions to rename the oiler Harvey Milk, named after the murdered activist and gay politician who served as a sailor during the Korean War.
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Milk became one of the first openly gay politicians to serve in public office, sponsoring and helping to pass a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing and employment while serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
An internal memo at the time categorized the change as aligning with President Donald Trump and Hegseth’s goals to “re-establish the warrior culture.”
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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