![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/john-murtha.jpg.jpg\")
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., on Nov. 4, 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n “We will never see his like again,” Pelosi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-time Purple Heart recipient earned various accolades for his service, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal upon his retirement as a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Murtha became the de facto voice of veterans during his time on Capitol Hill and later an influential critic of the Iraq War. He served as the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending for two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This ship and, more importantly, the young men and women that will serve our nation on this ship will be the living and breathing embodiment of the legacy of Jack Murtha,” said Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lizzeth Mancillas, of El Paso, Texas, first learned of Murtha’s story at the commissioning and from her daughter, who will serve as a member of the ship’s crew. Mancillas said it was clear that Murtha deserved the recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He did his duty for this country in so ways, and it’s a true sacrifice,” she said. “I support my daughter and the men and women who defend us 100 percent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The USS John P. Murtha, the tenth of its kind, will homeport in San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thousands gathered in the shadow of the massive USS John P. Murtha on Saturday to send the ship into active service and honor its namesake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[511],"class_list":["post-13804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"F7VSTBVVLJDV7GIUCS67LKNL34","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/10\/08\/navy-commissioning-honors-ship-s-pennsylvania-namesake-john-murtha\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n