PCU meets MoH winner Hudner

Sailors assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) visited with the ship's namesake Sept. 24 in Boston. "It's not every day that you get to meet a Medal of Honor recipient and the namesake of your ship,” said Chief Fire Controlman David Vendetti. DDG 116 is expected to be commissioned in Boston in fall 2018. The ship is named for retired Navy Capt. Thomas J. Hudner Jr., a naval aviator who received the Medal of Honor for displaying uncommon valor in the Korean War. Hudner was honored for actions taken after his wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator to fly in combat, was shot down. Hudner purposefully crashed his aircraft in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue Brown. Hudner will be the 66th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to join the Navy. (Source: Defense Media Activity 09/26/16) Central Mississippi Note: Ens. Brown was a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., and had FFT 1089 named in his honor. The Knox Class Fast Frigate was homeported at former Naval Stations Mobile, Ala., and Pascagoula, Miss., before it was decommissioned and leased under Foreign Military Sale to the Egyptian Navy in 1994 at NAS Pensacola, Fla.