Published Jul 16, 2026, 5:01 AM EDT
The ship named after George M. Neal is the Navy's newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, considered the "backbone" of the fleet.
It's not every day that the U.S. Navy christens a new missile destroyer ship, with plans to name it after a Korean War hero. But it happened last week in Pascagoula, Miss., the USS George M. Neal had an official champagne commissioning on its bow with the family of the late prisoner of war, George M. Neal, on hand to witness the honor. "It was a very proud time for myself, my brother and my entire family," Kelley Neal Gray, the daughter of the ship's namesake, told Military.com. "I'm so happy my dad is being recognized in this way."
He really stood for the U.S. Navy and everything it represents. He truly believed in the credo 'Leave No Man Behind.'
Korean War veteran George M. Neal will have a missile destroyer ship named after him for his heroism during a search-and-rescue mission over North Korea in 1951. He died in 2016.
