The United States Navy commissioned a new destroyer over the weekend in New York City, and it was named after legendary World War II hero U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone. Appropriately, the ship was commissioned on the weekend of the 249th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps and two days before Veterans Day. 

Basilone is a legend in military history. He served in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps. He is known for his courageous exploits and acts of bravery during World War II, such as the Battle for Henderson Field in Guadalcanal, where his unit endured heavy gunfire from an estimated 3,000 Japanese soldiers and numerous waves of attacks by Japanese troops. He commanded “two heavy .30-caliber machine gun sections from First Battalion, Seventh Marines, that were tasked with holding a narrow pass at the Tenaru River.”