Helen Lou Ross News

The crew of guided missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) took time to honor their sponsor during an at sea memorial service Feb. 11. Helen Lou Ross, who passed away Jan. 15, had sponsored the ship since she christened it with a bottle of champagne during a ceremony in April 1996. Mrs. Ross was the wife of the ship’s namesake, Capt. Donald Kirby Ross, who had received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in USS Nevada (BB 36) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. The ceremony was scheduled to coincide with a simultaneous Celebration of Life ceremony being held several thousand miles away in Bremerton, Wash. by the family and friends of Mrs. Ross. “It was an honor to give tribute to such a remarkable lady and great inspiration to USS Ross,” said Cmdr.