The United States Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, is headed to San Diego tomorrow to announce that a ship will be named after labor leader Cesar Chavez. General Dynamics NASSCO spokesman James Gill told the Associated Press it's a way to pay homage to the Latino workers who built the dry cargo ship, and the neighborhood (Barrio Logan) General Dynamics calls home.
But Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr. of East San Diego County, a veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, released a statement to the media today to complain about the naming:
Hunter suggests it would be more appropriate to honor Latinos by naming the ship after heroic Hispanics in the military, like Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael Peralta.
For the record, Cesar Chavez actually in the military. He enlisted in the Navy in 1946 and spent two years in the service. He gained fame, though, for bringing to light farmworkers' rights and organizing them into a union that still exists, the United Farm Workers.
So, Home Post readers, now's your chance to have say. What do you think of the Navy naming its new dry cargo ship after Cesar Chavez?
