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Navy to name destroyer after Ludington hospital corpsman

Posted at 10:07 AM, Mar 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-24 10:07:17-04

LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Navy is naming a guided-missile destroyer after a Michigan man who was awarded the Medal of Honor.

MLive.com reports the Navy announced last Monday that an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named in honor of Hospital Corpsman Master Chief William Charette.

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer says “Charette put himself at extreme risk during intense combat to render aid to Marines in need.”

The Ludington Daily News reports the Ludington native joined the Navy in 1951 and served in the Korean War. He received the Medal of Honor for shielding a Marine from a grenade in North Korea in 1953.

Charette died in 2012 after complications from heart surgery.

The destroyer will be equipped with offensive and defensive weapons systems that will support maritime and air warfare.