[sarex] SHIP TO BE NAMED ALAN SHEPARD

[Arthur Rowe <azrowe80@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

The following article was in the The  EAGLE-TRIBUNE  
Newspaper(N.Andover,Ma) and reprinted with their permission.


                    Ship to be named USS Alan Shepard
  By John Basilesco
  Staff writer
  DERRY,  N.H.  -- A new U.S. Navy ship will be named the USS Alan Shepard
in honor of the accomplished Derry native and first American in space.
  The  Navy  will  name  the vessel, which is about to be built, after the
famous  astronaut,  who  grew up in East Derry and graduated from Pinkerton
Academy.
  The  1,000-foot  combat  support  ship  will  be  built in San Diego and
delivered to Navy by March 2007.
  U.S.  Sens.  Judd Gregg and John Sununu and Congressmen Charles Bass and
Jeb Bradley, all of New Hampshire, made the announcement yesterday.
  "I  think  it's  great,''  said  state Rep. George Katsakiores, R-Derry.
"It's  quite  an  honor  to  have  a  ship named after you; it's a national
honor.''
  Katsakiores, 82, attended Pinkerton Academy with Shepard.
  "I  knew  him  very  well  because he used to live in East Derry and his
sister, Pauline, was in my class at Pinkerton,'' Katsakiores said.
   Shepard graduated in 1940 and Katsakiores graduated in 1942.
  Katsakiores  recalls  having  a  full house at his bar and restaurant in
Derry  in  1961 with everyone glued to a 10-inch black-and-white television
watching Shepard blast off into space.
  "We applaud the Navy's decision to honor the legacy and contributions of
New Hampshire's native son Alan Shepard Jr. by naming one of the new combat
support  ships after him,'' Gregg, Sununu, Bass and Bradley said in a joint
statement.
   "Alan  Shepard led a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy and at NASA,
and  naming  a  ship  after  him  will  be  a fitting tribute to one of the
nation's  greatest pilots and astronauts. The USS Alan Shepard will play an
important  role in providing for our Navy's readiness and allow the Navy to
maintain a forward presence in the 21st Century.''
  Along  with  distinguishing himself as a pioneer in America's efforts to
explore space, Shepard was one of only 12 Americans to walk on the moon.
  Following  his  1961 space flight, Shepard battled an inner ear disorder
before  soaring  back  into  space  in  1974  as commander of the Apollo 14
mission  to the moon. He spent 33 hours on the moon during this third lunar
landing mission and became the only lunar golfer.
  He  died from leukemia at the age of 74 in 1998 while living in Houston,
Texas.
  Three  years  later,  he  was  honored  on  the  40th anniversary of his
historic  space  flight  when  the  Derry post office on Tsienneto Road was
named the Alan B. Shepard Jr. Post Office Building. A section of Interstate
93 is also named after him.
  The  combat  support  ship  will  deliver  supplies,  transfer cargo and
provide logistic support to other Navy vessels.
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