Christening of the USS JEREMIAH DENTON (DDG 129)

On Saturday, June 28, 2025, the first ship named for Vietnam War hero and Prisoner of War, the USS JEREMIAH DENTON (DDG 129), was christened and officially named in Pascagoula, Mississippi, forty miles from Admiral Denton’s birthplace. His daughters, Madeleine Denton Doak and Mary Denton Lewis proudly began their service as Co-Sponsors with the ceremonial breaking of the champagne bottle. The ship’s namesake, Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. A self- described “average product of an American middle-class family”, he attended Catholic schools near his home, building a foundation for his deep religious faith. He attended Stonehill College and then the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1946 on the same day as President Jimmy Carter, and another POW, Admiral James Stockdale. He married his high school sweetheart, (Katherine) Jane Maury shortly after graduation. The Dentons had seven children, two daughters (Madeleine and Mary) serving as Co-Sponsors and five sons: Jeremiah III, Wiliam, Donald, James and Michael. Before the Vietnam conflict, he served in WWII, and the Korean War. In those years he distinguished himself as the architect of the “Haystack Concept”, a formation plan to make aircraft carriers more difficult to detect by Soviet bombers and submarines. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he provided significant support as the Commander of the Guantanamo Defense Force. After time at the Naval War College in the early 1960s, he was promoted to Commander and assigned to lead an air squadron aboard the USS INDEPENDENCE in 1965. On July 18, 1965, while leading an attack of 28 A-6A attack jets into North Vietnam, he and his bombardier/navigator LTJG Tschudy had to eject from their jet as one of their bombs detonated prematurely, damaging the A- 6A. They were quickly captured and transferred to the “Hanoi Hilton” as Commander Denton began his seven- and one-half years as a Prisoner of War. Half of his captivity was in solitary confinement as he was punished for being an uncooperative prisoner. As one of the highest-ranking prisoners, the North Vietnamese saw propaganda value in using Denton, but despite torture and regular beatings he never broke. Famously while being filmed by Japanese news reporters, he blinked in Morse Code the word TO- R-T-U-R-E with his eyelids (- — .-. – ..- .-. . ) while being questioned by one of his North Vietnamese handlers. Defense Intelligence reported this as the first confirmation that the North Vietnamese were indeed inflicting torture on American POWs. Commander Denton was the first POW to exit the aircraft when he was finally released on February 12, 1973 during Operation Homecoming. In full uniform, now Captain Denton said “We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances…” Jeremiah Denton continued to serve in the Navy until his retirement in 1977 as Rear Admiral. He was a recipient of the Navy Cross for “extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force” in addition to numerous other medals. He then began a distinguished career in politics and in 1980 became the first Republican Senator elected from Alabama since 1913 and the first former admiral elected to the Senate. Senator Denton championed Family Values issues and also co- sponsored Senate bill 1698 the “Amerasian Homecoming Act” signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. In 1985, Senator Denton witnessed the Christening of the Cruiser USS MOBILE BAY (CG 53) at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula sponsored by his wife, Jane Maury Denton. Nearly forty years later, the Denton family would return to Ingalls and Pascagoula to christen DDG 129. The USS MOBILE BAY was decommissioned in 2023 in San Diego California.

Author: Martha Hill

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