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American Military News
4 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
SECDEF Hegseth orders Navy to rename ship named after gay rights activist: Report
A new report claims that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to change the name of an oiler ship named after Harvey Milk, who was a gay rights activist. was the first outlet to report the anticipated name change for the U.S. Navy's ship after reviewing a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. An anonymous defense official told that the Navy was preparing to change the name of the USNS Harvey Milk and confirmed Navy Secretary John Phelan had received an order from Hegseth to change the ship's name. The defense official added that the timing of the name change was intentional during Pride month, which is celebrated each year in June. According to the memorandum obtained by the USNS Harvey Milk's name change is part of the 'alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.' The outlet noted that the memorandum indicated that the announcement of the Navy's plan to change the name of the USNS Harvey Milk was expected to become public on June 13. According to CBS News, the USNS Harvey Milk was named after the gay rights activist in August of 2016 at a ceremony in San Francisco under former President Barack Obama's administration. The outlet noted that Milk was the first openly gay official to be elected to office in California prior to his assassination in 1978. READ MORE: Video/Pic: SECDEF Hegseth restores 'Fort Liberty' to 'Fort Bragg' The Harvey Milk Foundation's website describes Milk as a 'visionary civil and human rights leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States.' The website notes that Milk enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and resigned in 1955 after he was 'officially questioned about his sexual orientation.' In a statement to Fox News, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell did not directly address the report regarding the renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk; however, he suggested that the Pentagon could implement additional name changes in the future. Parnell told Fox News, 'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos.' He added that 'any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.' According to documents obtained by CBS News, the Navy has a 'recommended list' of other ship name changes, including the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the USNS Thurgood Marshall, the USNS Lucy Stone, the USNS Harriet Tubman, the USNS Medgar Evers, the USNS Dolores Huerta, and the USNS Cesar Chavez.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Milk was just the start, Navy to rename other ships named for liberal heroes
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to strip the name of trailblazing LGBT+ activist Harvey Milk from a U.S. Navy vessel will be followed by the renaming of many more ships, according to reports. Documents obtained by CBS News indicate that other vessels could be renamed as part of Hegseth's purge of 'woke' ideology from the military in addition to the USNS Harvey Milk, including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the USNS Harriet Tubman, the USNS Dolores Huerta, the USNS Lucy Stone, the USNS Cesar Chavez, and the USNS Medgar Evers. The vessels placed on the Navy's 'recommended list' for renaming are all named for liberal icons. The task of renaming the ships will fall to Navy Secretary John Phelan. 'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all Department of Defense installations and assets are reflective of the commander-in-chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos,' the Pentagon said in a statement. Since being confirmed by the Senate in January, Hegseth has ordered the U.S. military to stamp out diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump. The order extends to ending associations with minority awareness events such as Pride Month, Black History Month, and Women's History Month. These moves caused uproar in March when pages paying tribute to the service of American icons Jackie Robinson, the Navajo Code Talkers and Ira Hayes were removed from the Pentagon website, with his then-spokesperson John Ullyot issuing a statement declaring: 'DEI is dead at the Department of Defense.' Responding to the decision to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a replenishment oiler given its name in 2021, California LGBT+ activist Nicole Murray-Ramirez told NBC San Diego: 'The truth is this administration has made it clear they want to erase the LGBTQ community and its history. It wants to erase a lot of history.' 'This does nothing to help crew members prepare for war. It's nothing but a distraction,' added James Seddon, a Navy veteran of 20 years experience, who pointed to the logistical problems likely to arise from the name change. 'Thousands of things will have to be reprinted or embroidered, from [the] ship's ball caps (which are part of the official uniform) to many other uniform parts that contain the ship's name. 'Not to mention that the ship's name isn't simply painted on the hull. There's raised steel that spells the name. The hull will have to be grinded down to rename the ship.' Seddon also warned of 'unnecessary controversy between members of the crew' arising from potential clashes of views that could undermine 'unit cohesion and training.' Milk became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 1978, having won a historic election the previous year. He was assassinated the following November after the passage of a bill prohibiting housing and employment discrimination because of sexual orientation. As a young man, Milk joined the Navy in 1951 and served as an operations and diving officer on the submarines USS Kittiwake and USS Chanticleer. But, in 1954, he was court-martialed after being accused of taking part in a 'homosexual act,' ultimately choosing to resign his commission and accept an 'Other Than Honorable' discharge rather than face trial. His story was told in Gus Van Sant's 2008 biopic Milk starring Sean Penn.
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
The 1600: Now Boarding the USS Idiocracy
Opinion | Tap here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox. The Insider's Track Good morning, So Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to review the names of ships honoring civil rights icons like Harvey Milk and Medgar Evars, according to multiple reports. Hegseth's people obviously leaked this news to coincide with the beginning of Pride Month (because they're based, get it?!) First of all, I cannot believe I once wrote here that I was cautiously optimistic about Hegseth as someone who could shake up the Pentagon. Was I on drugs? Can someone go find that column, print it out, and light it on fire? This guy is such an embarrassment to be leading our military it's astounding he actually still has the job. Secondly, having our warships named after civil rights (as opposed to political or military) leaders is badass and cool. You don't see China naming an aircraft carrier after the Tiananmen Square Tank Man, but damn right we'll send a cruise missile up your butt from the deck of the USNS Harriet Tubman. Thirdly, this is what the Defense Department is sitting around worrying about right now? The DoD, in concert with the FAA, should be gaming out our defensive drone strategy. If I were Hegseth, I'd be up all night thinking about how to ensure what happened deep inside Russia on Sunday could not happen here. There are Chinese-flagged container ships in New York harbor right now. From our office high up in the WTC, I watched one operated by COSCO Shipping (a Chinese company controlled by the CCP) sail into port yesterday, and all I could think about was how screwed we'd be if those containers opened up and thousands of cheap, battery-powered drones swarmed Lower Manhattan in some kind of WWIII first strike. Do we have any plan for such an (unlikely but increasingly plausible) event, or is the Trump administration too busy with its culture war bullshit to pay attention? It's actually worse than just being asleep at the wheel. Trump is actively harming our ability to make the batteries and other tech that are needed to mass produce drones like the ones Ukraine unleashed on Russia. The tax bill repeals clean energy subsidies that were in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. The tariffs on steel and aluminum will raise the cost of lithium-ion batteries. US factory construction, which we desperately need to increase in order to reshore our supply chains for things like drone and battery manufacturing—and one of the few things Joe actually did right—is now declining from its 2024 highs, due in part to the combination of the tariff threats and Trump repealing parts of the IRA and CHIPS acts. God forbid we get into a hot conflict with China in the near to medium future, we're beyond screwed. The worst part about Trump and MAGA, in my opinion, is their allergy to tech innovation. It's like, unless it's figuring out how to scam people with crypto, they find the concept of technological progress to be anathema. Trump had Elon Musk, probably the modern-day genius of clean-tech manufacturing, sitting around the West Wing for months and didn't even put him to work on this. I'm just so tired of being ruled by people who are either incompetent, senile, cartoonishly corrupt, or some combination of all three. We are in a race to own the future, and we're spending our time debating if the ships are too woke. The Rundown President Donald Trump has signed an executive order doubling tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 percent, effective June 4. The move aims to protect U.S. national security by curbing what the administration describes as a threat from excessively low-priced metal imports that undermine domestic industries. Read more. Also happening: Musk slams Trump's tax bill: Elon Musk has warned if the massive deficit spending continues there will be no money for social security, health care or defense, as he continues opposition to President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." Read more. Featured story: When JD Vance stood before European leaders in Munich this past February, warning that free speech was "in retreat" across the West, his remarks were met with audible discomfort in the room. The gravest threat to democracy in Europe, he argued, wasn't external—it was the internal erosion of liberal principles like free expression. Months later, however, his warnings seem less abstract. Read more. This is a preview of The 1600—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Navy set to rename ship honoring Harvey Milk amid DEI purge
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to rename a naval vessel named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, with several other ships honoring civil rights activists and women also potentially being rechristened. The move targeting the ship named after the gay rights icon comes as LGBTQ+ communities kick off pride month celebrations across the country. The step furthers Hegseth's agenda to stomp out DEI initiatives at the Pentagon, which has included removing books from service academies and scrubbing some mentions of women and people of color in the armed services from DOD websites. Two defense officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss a situation that is still evolving, said that USNS Harvey Milk name change will likely be announced around June 13, and that six other John Lewis-class replenishment and resupply ships — all named after civil rights leaders and prominent women — could also be renamed in the coming weeks and months. The officials said that more ships might follow in the coming months. and CBS News first reported some details of the plans. 'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos," Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement. "Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.' The other ships in the class are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Cesar Chavez, USNS Medgar Evers, USNS Dolores Huerta and the USNS Lucy Stone. There is no timeline yet for the renaming of these ships, one of the officials said. Milk served in the Navy before his political career. A member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone in City Hall in 1978 by a former member of the board. The planned erasure of barrier-shattering historical figures from the vessels is just the latest move in Hegseth's mission to stamp out any trace of diversity, equity and inclusion in the Defense Department. Previous efforts in that direction have proven controversial for Hegseth, who came under scrutiny for stripping mentions of key figures from military websites — including baseball legend and World War II veteran Jackie Robinson — eventually prompting the reinstatement of some webpages and even eliciting an admission of error from the Department of Defense. California politicians quickly criticized the Navy's planned renaming. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who shares a home city of San Francisco with Milk, sharply criticized the move as a 'shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream' in a statement on Tuesday. 'Our military is the most powerful in the world – but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the 'warrior' ethos. Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country,' Pelosi said, encouraging the Navy to 'reconsider this egregious decision.' 'Stripping his name from a Navy ship won't erase his legacy as an American icon,' Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, 'but it does reveal Trump's contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect.'
Politico
7 days ago
- General
- Politico
Navy set to rename ship honoring Harvey Milk amid DEI purge
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to rename a naval vessel named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, with several other ships honoring civil rights activists and women also potentially being rechristened. The move targeting the ship named after the gay rights icon comes as LGBTQ+ communities kick off pride month celebrations across the country. The step furthers Hegseth's agenda to stomp out DEI initiatives at the Pentagon, which has included removing books from service academies and scrubbing some mentions of women and people of color in the armed services from DOD websites. Two defense officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss a situation that is still evolving, said that USNS Harvey Milk name change will likely be announced around June 13, and that six other John Lewis-class replenishment and resupply ships — all named after civil rights leaders and prominent women — could also be renamed in the coming weeks and months. The officials said that more ships might follow in the coming months. and CBS News first reported some details of the plans. 'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos,' Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement. 'Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.' The other ships in the class are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Cesar Chavez, USNS Medgar Evers, USNS Dolores Huerta and the USNS Lucy Stone. There is no timeline yet for the renaming of these ships, one of the officials said. Milk served in the Navy before his political career. He was assassinated in 1978. The planned erasure of barrier-shattering historical figures from the vessels is just the latest move in Hegseth's mission to stamp out any trace of diversity, equity and inclusion in the Defense Department. Previous efforts in that direction have proven controversial for Hegseth, who came under scrutiny for stripping mentions of key figures from military websites — including baseball legend and World War II veteran Jackie Robinson — eventually prompting the reinstatement of some webpages and even eliciting an admission of error from the Department of Defense. California politicians quickly criticized the Navy's planned renaming. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who shares a home city of San Francisco with Milk, sharply criticized the move as a 'shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream' in a statement on Tuesday. 'Our military is the most powerful in the world – but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the 'warrior' ethos. Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country,' Pelosi said, encouraging the Navy to 'reconsider this egregious decision.' 'Stripping his name from a Navy ship won't erase his legacy as an American icon,' Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, 'but it does reveal Trump's contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect.'
