Levin Remarks at Keel-Laying Ceremony for the USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News, Virginia

Levin Remarks at Keel-Laying Ceremony for the USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News, Virginia

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered the following remarks at the keel-laying ceremony for the USS Gerald R. Ford on Nov. 14. These are the remarks as delivered.

Mr. Secretary, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I am a proud Michigander every day. But I am especially proud today. We gather here to mark the formal beginning of a great project, one that will combine our nation's financial might, our manufacturing strength, our technological prowess, and our military power into a great ship of the sea, a ship that will carry the name of one of Michigan's own.

We gather for the ceremonial laying of the keel for the USS Gerald R. Ford. This ceremony signifies the formal beginning of a ship's construction, when, in an earlier era, shipbuilders laid down the beam that held together its hull and upon which everything else depended.

Not so long ago, Gerald R. Ford was the sturdy beam that held our nation together, the beam on which so much else depended. This ship will bear the name of a man who assumed our nation's highest office at a time of great anguish and confusion, a time of great distress and doubt. The storm that brought President Ford to office battered our nation, threatening to undermine the strength and stability that had given shape to our government since its founding. At a time of great danger, Jerry Ford took the helm. At a time of instability, Jerry Ford kept our country on an even keel.

For those familiar with President Ford's life before politics, that accomplishment was no great surprise. For in his previous service to our nation, as an officer in the United States Navy, he demonstrated the same kind of firm, steady leadership he would later bring to the White House.

In May of 1941, a young University of Michigan and Yale Law graduate opened his legal practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor seven months later, bringing our nation into the Second World War, Jerry Ford, like millions of young Americans, put his life on hold and put on his nation's uniform, receiving his Navy commission in April of 1942. For a year, he served as a land-based instructor, teaching basic seamanship and other skills to incoming officers. But he sought the chance to serve at sea, and so, in May of 1943, he joined the crew of a ship still under construction, the aircraft carrier USS Monterey.

The Monterey and its crew served in many of the crucial battles in the Pacific theater, including campaigns to capture footholds in the Gilbert, Marshall and Marianas island chains, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in which Japan's naval air power was finally crushed. As an antiaircraft battery officer, Ford and his crew faced the danger of Japanese air raids, and the terror of kamikaze attacks.

But the sea herself would present the Monterey, and Jerry Ford, with their greatest challenge. In late December of 1944, a typhoon struck the Third Fleet. Three destroyers were sunk by the power of the storm, and nearly 800 sailors lost their lives. After standing a midnight watch through harrowing hours tossed by towering waves, Ford returned to strap himself into his bunk -- only to be jolted by the call to general quarters. The rough seas had torn aircraft on the Monterey's hangar deck loose from their moorings, and the aircraft soon caught fire. Ford raced to make his way to the bridge -- and was nearly tossed overboard as he reached the flight deck, skidding across the heaving deck and barely catching hold of a catwalk at its edge, narrowly escaping a plunge into the sea.

The crew was caught between a raging fire and the raging seas. If they could not douse the flames, they would have to abandon ship. In seas tossed by waves 70 feet high, that would mean likely death.

As the officer of the deck when the Monterey was at general quarters, Ford played a crucial role in the crisis. The captain ordered Lieutenant Ford to the hangar deck, where he faced the flames to assess the situation, and clambered back to the bridge, providing vital observations and advice at that time of grave danger. The Monterey's crew was somehow able to save their ship, a demonstration of courage, know-how and determination as great as many feats of combat.

Ford himself saw the parallel between the fire aboard the Monterey and the flames that engulfed our political system as he assumed the presidency in 1974. Recalling the storm and fire, Ford said, "I considered it a marvelous metaphor for the ship of state."

After 13 terms as a popular and respected member of the House of Representatives, he came to the presidency amid the greatest political crisis in generations. A man of lesser courage and character, a man not up to the moment, might have exacerbated the crisis, casting even greater doubt on the durability of our system of government. What the nation needed was a healer, a unifying force. And just as he had in the storm-tossed Pacific 30 years before, Gerald Ford helped beat back the flames. He set an example of fairness and integrity that will continue to shine through the generations.

An aircraft carrier embodies much of the greatness of our nation. More than just a demonstration of our strength and skill, it represents our commitment to send our sons and daughters over the seas, carrying with them the ideals that make our nation a beacon of freedom and hope.

This is the lead ship of a new class, the most advanced of its type in existence. Thirty-four years ago, President Ford attended the commissioning of another ship, also the first of its class, the most advanced of its day, the USS Nimitz. And he spoke with the reverence of a man who knew and loved the carrier fleet. President Ford said:

"As each of us looks upon this great ship, a single thought must seize our minds: Only the United States of America can make a machine like this. There is nothing like her in the world today. We have witnessed the magic moment when an intricate mass of steel and cable and sophisticated marvels of engineering suddenly become a living thing with a unique personality."

I know that all who serve aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford will take inspiration from the unique personality of the man for whom she is named. May that courage, that commitment, and that steadiness in crisis carry her safely through the roughest of seas and the most dangerous of battles.

I wish safety and good luck to the men and women who will build her. To Susan Ford Bales and the entire Ford family, I know this proud ship will serve as a welcome reminder of a treasured loved one, and as a tribute not only to his leadership, but to his partnership with his beloved wife Betty, who served so bravely and well as First Lady. To the men and women of the Navy, especially those who will serve aboard this great ship, I give my thanks for your service, my wishes for fair winds and following seas, and my hope that the example of Gerald Ford will guide your efforts as you defend the nation that he loved, and we love, so much.

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