USS Shoup

Commissioned in 2002, the Shoup honors General David M. Shoup, Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1960 to 1963 and Medal of Honor recipient for his leadership at Tarawa in 1943—where he landed under devastating fire, organized the assault, and held the beachhead when nearly everyone thought the battle was lost. Shoup later became a notable critic of militarism in American public life. His name on a warship is a reminder that moral courage and combat courage are not mutually exclusive.