Bushes Celebrate Christening of Carrier
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 7, 2006
Filed at 11:35 a.m. ET
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) -- In the shadow of the enormous gray bow of
the USS George H.W. Bush, the Bush family on Saturday christened the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after the 82-year-old former
president.
''I know you join me in saying to our father, President Bush, your
ship has come in,'' the current president said during the two-hour
ceremony for the last of the Nimitz-class carriers, the CVN 77.
The current president said that in the 21st century, ''freedom is
again under attack and young Americans are volunteering to answer the
call.''
Doro Koch, the elder Bush's daughter, handled the ritual smashing of a
bottle of sparkling wine against the flattop's bow.
Bush father and son and several relatives joined hundreds others at
the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard, where the $6 billion,
1,092-foot-long carrier is being built. It is not yet finished and is
scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in late 2008. ...
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