Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took decisive action to strip Harvey Milk’s name from a U.S. Navy ship — a bold correction of a disgraceful attempt to glorify a known sexual predator. On Friday, Hegseth followed through by unveiling the ship’s new name, putting an end to a chapter of politically motivated revisionism that never should have happened.
“Well, I’m pleased to officially announce that the Department of the Navy is renaming the fleet replenishment oiler formerly known as the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson,” Hegseth declared in a video posted to X. “We are taking the politics out of ship naming. We’re not renaming the ship to anything political.”
The secretary contrasted the Trump administration’s approach with that of the Biden administration. “This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration. Instead, we’re renaming the ship after a United States Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as it should be,” he said. Hegseth emphasized the importance of pride and tradition within the Navy, adding, “People wanna be proud of the ship they’re sailing in, and so we’re renaming it after a chief, a navy chief.”
Hegseth went on to recount the extraordinary heroism of Chief Watertender Oscar V. Peterson during World War II: “During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May of 1942, Chief Watertender Peterson led a repair party on the USS Neosho. The ship was severely damaged by Japanese dive bombers, and the entire repair party was either killed or severely wounded. Peterson himself was gravely wounded, yet he managed to single-handedly close the bulkhead stop valves, thereby helping to keep the ship operational.”
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Harvey Milk’s legacy, however, includes serious and well-documented allegations of predatory behavior involving underage boys, facts that sympathetic biographer Randy Shilts outlines. Yet the radical left turned Milk into a civil rights hero. The Obama administration posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and even commemorated him with a stamp. The Biden administration’s decision to name a ship after him was just the latest example of the left’s relentless effort to sanctify morally indefensible figures.
Hegseth has set things right: “In performing his historic actions and heroic actions, Peterson received additional injuries and burns which tragically resulted in his death. But his spirit of self-sacrifice and concern for his crewmates was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Navy. And for his heroic actions, Oscar Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.”
With the announcement, Hegseth concluded, “So I would like to officially welcome the USNS Oscar V. Peterson to the Navy’s vessel register.”
Hegseth’s move is a much-needed course correction. The U.S. military should never serve as a shrine to activist icons with troubling pasts. Stripping Milk’s name from the ship is a win for integrity, decency, and the return of common sense to an institution that should stand for honor, not political theater.
By choosing to honor Chief Peterson, a Medal of Honor recipient whose actions exemplified the Navy’s highest ideals, the Department of Defense is sending a clear message about the values it seeks to uphold. The renaming stands as a tribute not only to Peterson’s heroism but also to the enduring spirit of those who serve.
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