Bush 41 Gets Misty Over His Navy Carrier

What’s in a name? Apparently a lot.

On Saturday, the Navy will commission the new aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, a event the 41st president calls the “last big thing in my life.”

The ceremony will provoke deep emotions for Bush, who became a Naval flier days before his 19th birthday in 1943 and was shot down in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

“My going into the Navy at a young age was probably the best thing I ever did in my life,” he told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. “And then now to be, you might say, rewarded, certainly honored, in this way is just mind-boggling. It's everything.”

Asked to put those feelings into words, Bush replied, “The tears will be flowing.”
This particular carrier has also dredged up strong feelings on Capitol Hill, where the Florida and Virginia delegations have been battling over where to base it.

In November, the Navy indicated it would decide by the end of the year whether to station the carrier in Mayport, Fla., rather than Norfolk, Va., with the rest of the Atlantic nuclear aircraft carriers.

Virginia Sens. John Warner, a Republican, and Jim Webb, a Democrat, as well as incoming Democratic Sen. Mark Warner opposed the decision and pressed for a delay, saying the cost of preparing Mayport to house a nuclear ship outweighed the benefit of dividing the Atlantic fleet between two ports.

The Navy has not yet made a decision, and spokesman Lt. Sean Robert, couldn’t say when it would.

"There were a significant number of comments that came in,” Robert said. “We’re giving them all due consideration.”