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It will be another homecoming.
The U.S. Navy destroyer named after fallen U.S. Navy SEAL Michael Murphy will be officially commissioned at a ceremony in New York Harbor this coming October.
"The USS Michael Murphy will be commissioned on October 6, beside the Intrepid, Murphy's father Dan told the Echo in a call from his Long Island home.
On that day, the ship's captain and crew will formally take possession of the ship. It is possible that the ceremony will be attended by either President George W. Bush or President Barack Obama, or perhaps even both.
"The ship will be undergoing sea trials in March. Eventually, she will be stationed in the Pacific with her home port in Pearl Harbor," said Dan Murphy.
In the opening days of May last year, Dan and his wife Maureen were packing their bags for a trip to Maine where the destroyer named after their son was to be first launched when the news came in that Navy SEALS had cornered and killed Osama Bin Laden.
Their son lost his life, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, fighting in the Afghanistan war that directly followed Bin Laden's 9/11 attack on America.
It was in a 2005 firefight against the Taliban that Lt. Murphy exposed himself to enemy fire in an effort to secure fire support for his vastly outnumbered four-man team.
Two of Murphy's comrades were also killed that day. One survived. Murphy's men were all awarded the Navy Cross, thus making the unit the most decorated in the history of the SEALS.
In addition to his Medal of honor, Murphy was also the recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Lt. Murphy was posthumously honored by the Irish Echo at the paper's first 40 Under 40 awards event in February, 2008. Dan Murphy attended the event, and brought to it his hero son's Medal of Honor.
The USS Michael Murphy, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, was launched at the Bath Iron works shipyard on May 7 of last year. It would have been Michael's 35th birthday.
