Navy To Name Ship In Honor Of César Chávez

The Navy is set to name its new ship The USS Cesar E. Chavez tomorrow, MSNBC reported. The naming ceremony will take place in San Diego Tuesday afternoon, MSNBC reports:

The U.S. Secretary of the Navy’s office said there is a new vessel dedication ceremony scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the NASSCO shipyard south of San Diego but did not have any other details.

The vessel will be USNS Cesar Chavez and will be assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MCS) according to a U.S. Navy spokesperson.

Chávez’s family told MSNBC via text message about the honor. Chávez was a Navy veteran before he went on to help found the United Farm Workers union, which we wrote about previously.

Perhaps what’s interesting is that, even as the federal government is honoring Chávez’s work by naming this vessel after him, there were recent battles as to whether or not to keep a holiday to celebrate his work in Texas. Nevertheless, this is exciting news.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD