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Turning 21 is an important milestone in someone’s life. It marks the turning page in someone’s life to legally being considered an adult.
On September 20, 1997, the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), was commissioned. Linda Sloan Mundy, the wife of former Marine Corps Commandant General Carl E. Mundy, Jr. sponsored the ship and christened the new ship “in the name of the United States and in honor the heroic defenders of Bataan [Bataan Peninsula during WWII] ” in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Now 21 years later the crew celebrated this milestone with a birthday celebration along with the grand re-opening of the ship’s mess decks after completing repairs and renovations while the ship is currently undergoing a maintenance availability at BAE Ship Repair in Norfolk, Va.
To mark the occasion and celebrate the ship’s birthday in style, a special surf and turf lunch celebration was served September 27. Capt. Brad Brush, Bataan’s commanding officer, addressed the Battling Bastards crew before enjoying the meal, explaining the significant of the ship’s 21st birthday.
“Bataan is halfway through the ships life. We have to make sure that we are taking good care of the ship because she will be in the United States Navy for the next 20 to 25 years. She already has 20 years of operations in the Navy and she’s done an incredible job. For example, just last deployment in 2017 operating off the coast of Africa, Yemen and sending Marines ashore into Syria. So she already has a very proud history and we are going to continue it on for the next 25 years.”
In the meantime, Bataan is focused on completing a successful maintenance availability and getting the ship back to being operational and preparing for the upcoming deployment.
“Ships are designed to be at sea and Sailors are designed to take ships to sea. That’s my immediate goal, as well as making sure Sailors are prepared for whatever mission we are assigned,” expressed Bush.
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.03.2018 10:34 |
| Story ID: | 295256 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bataan Comes of Age, by CPO Kegan Kay, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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