A U.S. Navy ship that previously was saddled with the “Harvey Milk” name in a move that promoted the LGBT lifestyle choices, as Milk was a homosexual activist who was shot and killed in San Francisco, has been renamed. As WND reported, the Pentagon announced earlier this month that the ship would be renamed.
The vessel, a fleet replenishment oiler, now honors Oscar V. Peterson, a Medal of Honor recipient who was injured while saving his ship in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.
We are taking the politics out of ship naming. pic.twitter.com/2ypwAQGdAl
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 27, 2025
Breaking News: The Pentagon renamed a Navy ship that had honored Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. The vessel will be renamed for Oscar V. Peterson, a Medal of Honor recipient, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. https://t.co/UGssGJnPGr pic.twitter.com/34dCZM0c1x
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 27, 2025
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed the name change, and emphasized that the move was to take politics out of the process of naming vessels.
A Fox report said Peterson, a 20-year veteran of the Navy, was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death.
He was seriously injured in World War II “in an act of self-sacrifice that saved lives,” the report said.
He was in charge of running the steam engine in the U.S.S. Neosho when it came under Japanese attack in the Philippines in 1942. He was seriously injured during the Battle of the Coral Sea when he was doing repairs, and was hurt while closing four bulkhead steam valves.
The move kept the ship afloat, the report said, but he was seriously burned, and although the ship kept afloat and 123 survivors aboard later were rescued, Peterson died of his injuries.
“People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in,” Hegseth explained. “We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration.”
He said the politics are being taken out of the process.
Milk was a homosexual politician in California. A victim of that state’s violence, he was shot and killed at San Francisco city hall by a former city official. He has been documented as having an affinity for young boys.
Leftists have complained that their political ideology no longer will be promoted by the Navy.