The following is from the Sunday May 7 Fort Worth Star Telegram's editorial page. I ask that you please consider supporting the request for naming the USS Fort Worth and contact Secretary of the Navy Winter and/or your local congressman.
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Anchors aweigh!
Star-Telegram
Dallas, Houston and Corpus Christi have submarines named after them. Aficionados of Tom Clancy movies will recognize the USS Dallas as the Hunt for Red October boat.
Three naval vessels have sported the name Austin, although only the last (an amphibious transport dock ship) was named after the Texas capital. The first was a ship in the Texas navy, named in honor of Stephen F. Austin. The second Austin, a destroyer escort, was named for Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin, killed in action aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Waxahachie even has a large harbor tug that bears it name. Yet nary one U.S. Navy vessel has carried the name Fort Worth into the waters of the world.
Folks, it's time for that to change, and you can help make it happen.
U.S. Rep. Kay Granger has launched the USS Fort Worth Ship Naming Campaign in an effort to convince Navy Secretary Donald Winter that a city with as rich a military history as Fort Worth's deserves the honor. Granger is asking local civic and service organizations, military associations, companies and business groups, churches, schools and individuals to write letters showing broad-based community support for designating a littoral combat ship (LCS) the USS Fort Worth.
The Navy calls the LCS the new breed of focused mission ships. Former Navy Secretary Gordon England, who now serves as deputy secretary of defense, described them as "fast, maneuverable and relatively inexpensive." If that doesn't describe Fort Worth, what does?
Since 1819, the responsibility for naming U.S. ships has rested in the hands of the secretary of the Navy. The name selected must represent a place, an event or an individual with character, spirit and service.
Fort Worth has character, spirit and service oozing from every sidewalk and bricked boulevard. Camp Bowie, named after legendary Alamo defender James Bowie, was a World War I facility (located in modern-day Arlington Heights) that trained 100,000 men in 1917 and 1918.
"The Thirty-sixth Division remained at Camp Bowie for ten months," according to the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online. "Training dragged, partly because of epidemics and equipment shortages, but morale never flagged, thanks in part to the cooperation of Fort Worth in tending to the social needs of the troops."
World War II saw the expansion of Fort Worth's aviation industry. The Army Air Forces set up at the Tarrant Field Air Drome, which became Carswell Air Force Base and then the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base.
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. started cranking out bombers on the city's west side, and production of some of the finest aircraft ever to carry U.S. military insignias has never stopped, even as the name has changed to General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
This community's support for the nation's military has remained steadfast through its history. That could be why so many military veterans and retirees choose Fort Worth as the place to live.
If you think it's time for a Navy ship to carry the proud name of Fort Worth, clip out the form below and fill in the information. Mail it back to the Star-Telegram by June 1. We'll take care of boxing and shipping to Washington what we hope are thousands of statements in support of a USS Fort Worth.
The address of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is
USS Fort Worth, c/o Star-Telegram,
P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76101
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Dear Secretary Winter
I support Congresswoman Kay Granger's request to name a future US Navy Littoral Combat Ship for the City of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth has a long association with the US military, starting in 1849 as a US Army frontier outpost. Enormous community support for the military continues today. Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, formerly Carswell Air Force Base, along with Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter are a vital part of Fort Worth. Fort Worth men and women have served and continue to serve proudly to protect America and defend freedom.
Please name a ship the USS Fort Worth to honor the city of Fort Worth.
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