Destroyer USS Stockdale to be commissioned

PORT HUENEME, Calif., April 17 (UPI) -- Ross Perot will be in California Saturday for the commissioning of a ship named after vice-presidential running mate James Stockdale, the Navy League announced.

The destroyer USS Stockdale will be commissioned at the Port Hueneme naval base in Ventura County at a ceremony where Perot will be honorary chairman.

Perot and Stockdale, a retired Navy admiral, ran a spirited third-party campaign in the 1992 U.S. presidential race against President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The pair received 19 percent of the popular vote.

Stockdale, who died in 2005, received the Medal of Honor for his leadership during seven long years in a North Vietnamese prison camp. The Navy League said in a written statement that it expected about 100 of Stockdale's fellow Vietnam vets and Medal of Honor recipients to attend the commissioning.

The Stockdale is the latest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to join fleet. The ship is the same type as the USS Bainbridge, which led the rescue of a U.S. merchant sea captain from Somali pirates.