The Navy has christened its newest destroyer in the name of Patrick Gallagher, a Camp Pendleton-trained Marine who threw himself on a hand grenade in Vietnam in July 1966, protecting fellow Marines while fighting near Da Nang.
Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher, seen in this file photo. Three sisters of Gallagher, a Irish-born recipient of the Navy Cross have christened a U.S. Navy warship bearing his name, Saturday, July 27, 2024, and secured a promise that the ship will visit Ireland. (U.S. Marines via AP)
The grenade did not detonate. But Gallagher’s selflessness led to him being awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest military decoration that can be conferred on a sailor or a Marine.
Gallagher was killed while on patrol the following year, about a week before his tour of duty was to end. He was 23.
He had originally emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland to attend college but ended up enlisting in the Marines and being sent to Pendleton.
The christening occurred on Saturday at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine.
The 505-foot ship, which cost more than $2 billion to build, will be home ported in Norfolk, Virginia.
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