The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Kings Point, NY, was particularly close to the shooting this weekend of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as her husband is U.S. Navy Captain Mark E. Kelly, a NASA Astronaut born in West Orange, NJ, and a 1986 graduate of USMMA with a bachelor of science degrees in marine engineering and marine transportation (with highest honors). Rep. Giffords was shot on Saturday, Jan. 8 at a supermarket in northwest Tucson, Arizona. According to a report in New York Newsday, it was on the campus in 2006 that Kelly proposed to Giffords. A statement on Rep. "On behalf of Gabby and our entire family, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the people of Arizona and this great nation for their unbelievable outpouring of support.