(Tribune News Service) — In 2018, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer was named for Rear Adm. Jeremiah Denton Jr., one of many honors he earned for his heroism as a Vietnam prisoner of war.

Last weekend, the USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129) was christened, taking the warship one step closer toward being commissioned.

Denton’s family members, many from Virginia, attended the ceremony in Pascagoula, Miss.

“He’s just a great example of the goodness of America and also the American dream,” his son Michael Denton of Manakin-Sabot said. “We’re thrilled not only that his name is on there, but that the family is going to remain involved.”

After being named in 2018, the USS Jeremiah Denton had its keel laying in 2022, representing the start of construction.

The ship had its first launch this March before the recent christening. Eventually, the ship will be commissioned into active service.

An American war hero

A native of Mobile, Alabama, Jeremiah graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and earned his master’s degree from George Washington University in 1964. He embarked on a long naval career, primarily piloting carrier-based aircraft.

On July 18, 1965, Jeremiah’s A-6 Intruder was shot down while leading a bombing raid over North Vietnam. He was held captive for more than 7 1/2 years, including four in solitary confinement.

During a televised interview in 1966, Jeremiah’s captors tried to force him to take part in a propaganda campaign.

When asked about his thoughts on the Vietnam War, he said, “Whatever the position of my government is, I support it fully.”

While making his statement, Jeremiah was blinking his eyes to spell out the word T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code. That message was the first signal to U.S. Naval Intelligence that American POWs were being tortured, Jeremiah included.

Jeremiah was among the nearly 600 POWs released from captivity in 1973 after the U.S. ended its involvement in the Vietnam War.

“His faith was vital to his service and survival,” Michael said. “It was critical to his style of leadership.”

Jeremiah was the first one off the plane at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. On the tarmac, he delivered the following words: “We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America.”

“It was incredible, and the whole world saw it that night,” said Michael, who was 13 at the time. “The whole country was desperate for some good to come out of the Vietnam experience at the time, and he just said exactly what people needed to hear.”

Jeremiah retired from the Navy in 1977 and was awarded the Navy Cross among other accolades.

Afterward, he represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate from 1981 to 1987. Toward the end of his tenure, he created the Denton Program, which permits the Department of Defense to send humanitarian cargo to developing nations.

Jeremiah died in 2014 at the age of 89. He and his late wife Jane Denton had seven children, many of whom served their country.

That included their son Jeremiah Denton III, who was an Army pilot in Vietnam while his father was a POW.

Michael was a Naval ROTC graduate of Virginia Military Institute, a Navy Surface Warfare Officer and a Navy shipyard manager.

A time-honored tradition

The christening ceremony on June 28 was a family affair, with Jeremiah’s daughters Madeleine Denton Doak and Mary Denton Lewis serving as sponsors.

Per tradition, they smashed a bottle of champagne across the bow.

Granddaughters Micah Doak and Allison Denton Shumate were the Matrons of Honor. For Allison, a Virginia Tech graduate who lives in Richmond, this was the first time she saw the ship named after her grandfather in person.

“I knew him as the fisherman and the poker player, but he’s also just this larger-than-life figure for all of the United States of America,” she said. “I was just very proud and honored growing up to know that story and legacy.”

Grandson Maury Denton of Henrico was among the other family attendees, along with his wife and three children.

The extended Denton family also attended the mast stepping ceremony the day before the christening. In that longstanding maritime tradition, a sealed box filled with memorabilia was welded into the ship for good luck.

“It’s symbolic of welding the spirits of the ship’s namesake into the destroyer, and those will live on in the crewmen that’ll take the seas with it,” Maury said. “It’s very special.”

Maury, an Army ROTC VMI graduate and graduate of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, said he’s been teaching his children about Jeremiah just as he learned as a child.

“We teach them about the bravery, the leadership and the perseverance and what he had to do to stay alive and get back home,” he said. “They look at him as a hero and as they get older, more of those nuggets start to make sense in terms of what that means for your character, what it means for the country and beyond.”

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