do you think there'd ever be a USS Slick Willie? I don't ... not even a tugboat
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Next Aircraft Carrier: USS George H.W. Bush
The Navy's next Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will be named for the only U.S. president ever to have been a naval aviator: George H.W. Bush.
The former president told a Pentagon audience today that he was not a hero, despite flying off a carrier and having his plane shot down in the Pacific during World War II.
He took the focus off himself by lauding today's service members. "I don't think of my generation as the greatest generation … because I've been around some of the kids that are serving now," he said. "There isn't a 'greatest' generation."
"The USS George H.W. Bush will serve as a worldwide deployable symbol of our nation's resolve," Navy Secretary Gordon England said during the ship-naming ceremony. He called Bush "a great, great American, a great patriot."
Bush enlisted at age 18 in 1942 and became the youngest pilot in the Navy. He flew a bomber off the carrier USS San Jacinto and was shot down in the Pacific in 1944. The future president went on to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his service.
Later, as president, with "the modesty and grace that are his hallmarks, he presided over the end of the Cold War," England said.
Bush said he was "deeply honored" by the ship's designation. "I'm overwhelmed by this, and very, very grateful," he said.
At 1,092 feet in length and 97,000 tons, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the world. They have a flight deck of 4.5 acres and carry an air wing of approximately 75 aircraft and can travel at speeds in excess of 30 knots.
The USS George H.W. Bush, under construction in Newport News, Va., is expected to join the fleet in 2009.
