The seventh and final Strategic Sealift ship in the BOB HOPE Class will be christened BENAVIDEZ in ceremonies at the Northrop Grumman Corporation Avondale shipyard Saturday, July 21, 2001, beginning at 10 a.m. The new ship will be named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Army Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez, of Lindenau, Tex. Benavidez distinguished himself in a series of daring and extremely valorous actions while in the Republic of Vietnam assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, U.S. Army. On May 2, 1968, while a Staff Sgt., Benavidez voluntarily led the emergency extraction of a 12-man special…