Story from the Monday, March 06, 2006 Edition of the Chronicle Telegram

TRIBUTE TO A KING
A group of Navy veterans is seeking to name a new ship in honor of
Lorain native Admiral Ernest J. King

Chris Powell
The Chronicle-Telegram

chronicle file Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1942 to 1945

A group of national veterans and Lorain County high school students have combined forces in a letter-writing campaign aimed at honoring the legacy of the late U.S. Navy Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King by naming a new naval vessel after him.

A Lorain native and distinguished naval leader, King was known for his exceptional vision during World War II, when he commanded global naval operations. He died in June 1956, and a naval destroyer was named the USS King in his honor in 1958. The ship was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1994.
Vermilion resident David McHenry was one of the 4,000 sailors to serve aboard the USS King during its 33 years of service.
“ It was just a great ship with a great crew,” said McHenry, 47. “Whenever there was a problem, we were always the first ones called. I don’t know what it was about that ship, but it always kicked butt. It was the ‘King of the Fleet,’ and I still can’t believe it was scrapped.”
Mark Donovan, a Delaware state resident who served aboard the USS King for four years, echoed those sentiments.
“ It was a whole lot more than metal and steel,” Donovan said. “There was an honest-to-God soul to that ship, and it broke our hearts when we found out it was being sold for scrap. … We would have liked to have saved the King for preservation.”
While members of the USS King Association, including Donovan and McHenry, were unable to save their former ship from being scrapped, they feel confident they can persuade Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter to name a new naval vessel in King’s honor.
“ It’s a challenge, but I think this is something we can definitely get done, especially on this, the 50th anniversary of his passing,” Donovan said. “But we have no time to waste, we want to bring him back to the forefront and demonstrate how important a man he was, and that the impact he had on the U.S. Navy then is just as important now.”
The government receives hundreds of written requests each year from citizens, former sailors and even members of Congress proposing names for a new ship, U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Ohene Gyapong said. There are currently 15 unnamed ships.
To improve their odds, the association has teamed with Lorain Schools to pepper the Navy office with letters asking Winter to name of those ships after the famed local son.
“ We plan to rally and do everything we can to help get another ship named after our Admiral King,” Lorain Schools spokesman Dean Schnurr said. “Our English classes will be writing letters of support of the effort in class this week, and members of our Junior ROTC program also will be collecting petitions throughout the school and the community seeking support.”
USS King Association President Harry Pate said time is of the essence, and encourages anyone who wants to get involved with the effort to visit the group’s Web site, at www.uss-king.com.
“ We’re running out of time —new ships are being named almost monthly,” he said. “We’re really hoping to slam the secretary’s office with letters and want Ohioans to write their senators and congressional representatives, because that’s where Admiral King was born and raised.”