BATH, Maine — The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday that the DDG 134, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to be built at Bath Iron Works, will be named for Korean War hero John E. Kilmer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor.
“Hospitalman Kilmer was a hero whose efforts during the Korean War continue to inspire,” Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a release. “His dedication to his teammates represents everything good about our integrated Naval force.”
Kilmer served with a Marine rifle company in the First Marine Division.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on June 18, 1953. The medical field technician was killed Aug. 13, 1952, while shielding another man from enemy fire with his body as he cared for wounded soldiers during the attack on Bunker Hill, according to the release.
“With his company engaged in defending a vitally important hill position well forward of the main line of resistance during an assault by large concentrations of hostile troops, Kilmer repeatedly braved intense enemy mortar, artillery and sniper fire to move from one position to another, administering aide to the wounded and expediting their evacuation," Kilmer's Medal of Honor citation states.