THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510220044
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PORT HUENEME, CALIF. LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
A decade after terrorists killed Seabee Robert D. Stethem, the Navy commissioned a guided-missile destroyer in his name during a stirring ceremony witnessed Saturday by Stethem's parents.
The USS Stethem (pronounced STEED-um) is the first U.S. Navy ship commissioned at Port Hueneme's Naval Construction Battalion Center in its 53-year history. Stethem was a petty officer and Seabee diver based in Norfolk when he was killed by Arab terrorists during the hijacking of a TWA airliner to Beirut in 1985.
Stethem's mother, Patricia, presented her son's Bible to the ship as a gift.
``We never solicited this, but it's been a happy point in our lives since this happened to him,'' said his father, Dick Stethem, when asked about the ship.
The 8,600-ton, 505-foot ship will be based in San Diego.
Cmdr. Steven C. Miller, the ship's captain, said: ``The Stethem is the most capable offensive and most survivable ship in the world today. We stand ready to join our sister ships in executing our mission `Forward . . . From the Sea.' ''
Stethem was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star in 1986 for his heroism and bravery during the terrorist hijacking.
He served with the Underwater Construction Team 1 at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk and the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 62 in Gulfport, Miss. by CNB