Gabrielle Giffords honored with new U.S. warship bearing her name
Out of thousands of ships commissioned by the U.S. Navy, this is only the 16th named after a woman -- and the first named after a living woman since Martha Washington.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy veteran Mark Kelly," as the couple was introduced on Saturday in the Texas Gulf Coast city of Galveston, Texas.
"I thought of you in my darkest days, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, of the United States of America," Giffords said. "We ask so much of you. Despite the danger, you say, 'Yes!'"
The Navy told former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords a warship would be named in her honor back in 2012.
The same day she decided to resign from Congress to recover from an assassination attempt in 2011.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the decision to name the ship after Giffords.
"She came out of that experience with grace and faith that is almost hard to imagine," Clinton said. "Nothing gives me greater joy and honor than seeing this great ship named for someone whose strength and resilience is a great blessing to us all."
More than 420 feet long, the USS Gabrielle Giffords is designed to take on threats such as mines and submarines in the open ocean and close to shore.
"This wonderful lady is an inspiration to every single one of us in uniform and every single one of us who lives in this great country," Admiral William Moran said.
The Navy's newest warship reportedly cost $475 million and is armed with missiles and machine guns.
It will soon head to its home port in San Diego for final tests and training.