Everett’s Shoup proves it’s full of devoted patriots

Naval Station Everett’s newest ship is fast, high-tech and filled with dedicated people. It’s ready to show its stuff — the ability of the ship and its crew to serve America.

On Saturday at 11 a.m., the commissioning of the USS David M. Shoup will take place in Seattle at Pier 37. That’s an important event as the crew looks ahead to the ship’s first deployment, likely in 2004, after an 18-month training period.

The Shoup is the most advanced of its class of destroyers, which serve, among other vital roles, as key defenders of aircraft carriers and battle groups. It’s big (509 feet, 9,300 tons) and powerfully armed with a variety of weapons systems. It’s also maneuverable.

Or, as Duane Redmond, the ship’s electronic warfare chief, told The Herald’s Brian Kelly recently, "This baby will flat out fly."

At the heart of the ship, though, are the approximately 300 people who have been carefully selected to form the first crew. Its crew numbers about 300.

Cmdr. E. Bernard Carter has the responsibility of creating the morale and the practices that will make the Shoup a ship where excellence is expected. As Carter undertakes that task, he has pointed out that the name of the destroyer is a call to continuing a proud tradition. Gen. David M. Shoup, the 22nd commandant of the Marine Corps, won the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Tarawa during World War II.

When Carter discusses his crew, he talks of people similarly fired with patriotism. He calls them well-educated, knowledgeable and smart. And he is clear that the crew knows that service involves risk on behalf of their country.

"We are ready and willing to defend our country," Carter told the Everett Rotary recently. "And I tell you, I have got 300 of the most devoted patriots you can stand to see."

The crew’s neighbors in Everett and across Snohomish County appreciate their dedication. As the ship is commissioned, the Shoup’s people can move into a new phase of creating traditions that will make their country proud.

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