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Humble hero could get lofty honor

A call to name a Navy ship for a flier who risked all to try to save another

By Andrew Ryan and Bryan Bender

 |  Globe Staff  

  April 14, 2012

More than six decades after Thomas J. Hudner Jr. crashed his own plane in the hope of saving another aviator, Massachusetts’s two US senators are pressing Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to name a warship after him, a rare honor for a living person. Exceptions have been made for presidents, high-profile lawmakers, and legendary Navy admirals, or singular personalities. Hudner won a Medal of Honor for his bravery in Korea, fought in Vietnam, and served as the state’s Commissioner of Veterans’ Services.

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