USS Stockdale

Commissioned in 2009, the Stockdale honors Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, Naval Academy graduate, carrier aviator, Medal of Honor recipient, and one of the most remarkable military figures in American history. Shot down over North Vietnam in 1965, Stockdale spent seven and a half years as the senior American POW in the Hanoi Hilton—leading the resistance among the prisoners, enduring torture, and never breaking. He read Stoic philosophy in captivity and came home with his integrity intact.