Commissioned in 1996, the Gonzalez honors Sergeant Alfredo 'Freddy' Gonzalez, a Marine from Edinburg, Texas, who was killed in the Battle of Hue in February 1968 while repeatedly exposing himself to fire to lead assaults and cover his Marines' withdrawal—earning the Medal of Honor posthumously. Gonzalez was 21 years old. The Gonzalez carries his name on deployments across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.