Commissioned in 1995, the Stethem honors Petty Officer Robert D. Stethem, a Navy diver who was beaten and murdered by Hezbollah hijackers aboard TWA Flight 847 in June 1985—his body thrown onto the tarmac at Beirut Airport while the hijackers issued their demands. Even under extreme duress, Stethem did not break. The Navy named a destroyer after him because some names must never be forgotten, and the Stethem ensures he never is.