The Immortalization of John Murtha

Enough is Enough! Everyone knows the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa)  served 19 terms representing Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives. He is well known for all the 'Pork' he obtained for senseless projects in his state and across the Country. To continue to make him an immortal hero of our Country is crazy.

• The 'King Of Pork' already has an airport named after him. The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport got so much money in pork for a little used airport.
• The Murtha family has announced the establishment of the John P. Murtha Foundation to honor the legacy of Murtha. The John P. Murtha Center for Public Service will be located on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
• Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa) is seeking to rename the Philadelphia Naval Business Center in honor of all the money he sent down there to keep the yard operating. The new name would become the "Jack Murtha Business Center."

In May of 2006 Murtha, himself a former Marine,  infuriated Marines across the country when he made the following comments: “There was no firefight,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said at the time. “There was no [improvised explosive device] that killed those innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them. And they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” Those remarks were made following an incident in Haditha, Irag.

• One of former Navy Secretary Donald Winter's last actions before resigning was to bestow the Navy's highest honor to a non-employee. The Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award was bestowed upon Rep. Murtha on March 5. 2009. Much to the dismay of many veterans groups and active duty troops.
• US Navy names a warship after the late Congressman John Murtha, despite his outspoken remarks about the United States Marines. Ironically this new vessel will bare his name and many Marines will be stationed aboard the ship. I wonder if they will feel it a priveledge?
• Once again the Navy is honoring the the "King of Pork", and outrage is spreading rampantly across the Internet. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who technically is the only person in the government with the power to name U.S. warships has officially named an amphibious transport dock, with the hull number 26 the John P. Murtha. The rest of San Antonio fleet have been named for Americans cities. This will be the first in the fleet named after a person.

According to the NavyTimes.com, Comments being made on Facebook include "slap in the face"; "betrayed the brotherhood" the ship should have been named "a nice, stinky garbage scow" if the Navy wanted to honor Murtha. I tried to find the Facebook group "People Against Naming A Navy Ship USS Murtha", but could not locate it.

It is speculated that Nancy Pelosi had something to do with this honor being bestowed upon Murtha's legacy.
Murtha — “our dear Jack,” as Pelosi referred to him — deserved the honor as a tireless advocate for troops generally and Marines in particular, she said.

I wonder how much extra Pork the Navy received that other branches of the Military did not receive? When do we finally stop immortalizing a man who served as a US Representative for 38 years and threw away so much of our money on senseless projects? Let's move on, I am sure our Country and Navy can find more deserving, honest and influential heroes to bestow their high honors on.

Deanie