BATH, Maine — Marine 1st Lt. Harvey “Barney” Barnum jumped to the bottom when he got here beneath hearth throughout an ambush in Vietnam that killed his radio operator and commander.

Collecting himself, Barnum realized he was now the highest-ranking officer of a rifle firm he’d simply joined. He referred to as in artillery and, amid gunfire, dragged the commander to security, the place he died in Barnum’s arms. Then he proceeded to mount a counterattack, oversee evacuation of the wounded and lead the unit’s eventual escape to rejoin the battalion.

The Medal of Honor recipient, now 83, watched Saturday as his spouse smashed a bottle of glowing wine towards the bow to christen the long run U.S. Navy destroyer that’ll bear the identify Harvey C. Barnum Jr.

He mentioned he was speechless when he realized {that a} warship would bear his identify. “As anybody that knows Barney Barnum knows, I’ve never been speechless,” he joked earlier than the occasion.

The ceremony on Saturday at Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works was a tribute to the Vietnam War hero who throughout his first firefight was foisted into management of Marines who didn’t but know his identify as a result of he’d simply joined them a few days earlier.

Dignitaries included Maine’s governor and senators, in addition to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, who praised Barnum’s humility and generosity, along with being a battle hero who impressed fellow Marines.

Gen. Eric Smith, the performing Marine Corps commandant whose nomination to steer the Marine Corps is being blocked by a Republican senator, referred to as Barnum “an icon, a legend, a Marine.”

In an interview, Barnum mentioned the fight was harrowing on that day, Dec. 18, 1965, throughout Operation Harvest Moon. His unit was outnumbered, caught off guard and separated from the bigger battalion exterior the village of Ky Phu in Quang Tin Province.

The ship’s namesake mentioned he was scared like all people else however he tried to not present it. The different Marines have been seeking to him, an artillery spotter, after their commander died, he mentioned.

To launch a counterattack, he brandished a .45-caliber handgun and advised the others to observe him. They did.

“It’s a tough business. But when it gets tough, the tough get going and that’s what Marines do,” he mentioned. “We came together as a team. And, you know, there’s no fury unleashed that’s greater than that of a bunch of Marines that know that their buddies have been shot.”

Barnum later turned the primary Medal of Honor recipient within the Vietnam battle to return for one more tour. He retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel after practically three a long time of service and served the secretary of protection as principal director of drug enforcement coverage, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for reserve affairs, and performing assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs.

Barnum, of Reston, Virginia, was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, and studied at Saint Anslem College, a Benedictine faculty in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The faculty’s abbot, Mark Cooper, delivered the invocation on Saturday.

The occasion was a household affair for Barnum, who now lives in Virginia.

His spouse, Martha Hill, served because the ship’s sponsor. At the occasion Saturday, she was in a wheelchair; Barnum has been her care supplier since she had a stroke greater than 5 years in the past. Her daughter; two granddaughters, certainly one of whom sang “God Bless America;” and an 11-year-old great-granddaughter have been additionally members on the occasion Saturday. Other household and associates have been current.

Displacing 9,500 tons, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is constructed to concurrently wage battle towards submarines, plane and missiles, and different warships. The latest variations are being geared up for ballistic missile protection.

The 510-foot (155 meters) guided-missile destroyer was in dry dock for the ceremony as work continues to organize the ship for supply to the Navy.

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