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050113402 |
153k | Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 134, in honor of U.S. Navy Hospitalman John E. Kilmer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War.
“Hospitalman Kilmer was a hero whose efforts during the Korean War continue to inspire,” Spencer said. “His dedication to his teammates represents everything good about our integrated Naval force.”
A medical field technician with the Fleet Marine Force, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor June 18, 1953. He was killed 13 August 1952 as a result of enemy action while caring for the wounded during the attack on Bunker Hill. He shielded another man from enemy fire with his body and was mortally wounded.
From Kilmer’s Medal of Honor citation, “With his company engaged in defending a vitally important hill position well forward of the main line of resistance during an assault by large concentrations of hostile troops, Kilmer repeatedly braved intense enemy mortar, artillery and sniper fire to move from one position to another, administering aide to the wounded and expediting their evacuation.”
Kilmer was born 15 August 1930 in Highland Park, Illinois, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947 as an Apprentice Seaman in Houston, Texas. Kilmer was serving with a Marine rifle company in the First Marine Division at the time of his death. He had previously served aboard USS Repose (AH-16) and at multiple locations in California.
National Archives photo 80-G-708891
| Dave Wright |
USS John E. Kilmer (DDG 134)
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050113401 |
663k | 191016-N-DM308-001 Washington, DC, 16 October 2019. A photo illustration announcing that Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, DDG 134, will be named USS John E. Kilmer. U.S. Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist Paul L. Archer/Released) | Dave Wright |
050113403 |
81k | A burning machine within a protective enclosure cuts the first sheet of steel for the future John E. Kilmer (DDG-134), 08 November 2023.
GDBIW photo | Dave Wright |
050113404 |
93k | Les Waltz, a 59-year employee of Bath Iron Works, activated the burning machine that cut the first sheet of steel for the future USS John E. Kilmer (DDG 134). Waltz started in structural fabrication and currently is a dispatcher for the transportation team.
GDBIW photo | Dave Wright |
