Destination Pearl Harbor

Here she is, friends, the USS O'Kane. Zach's new ride.

This is quite a step up from my kid's Chevy pickup. She's a destroyer, 505 feet long with nearly 7,000 tons of displacement. She has a cruising speed of 30 knots and a range of 4,400 miles, with a complement of 23 officers and 300 enlisted men.

And her home is Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Zach just received his orders and he'll be shipping there soon for his first assigment as a seaman. Way to go, kid.

Richard O'Kane was a sub commander whose heroic exploits in World War II are well documented. In five patrols in the Pacific aboard the legendary USS Tang he wreaked havoc on the enemy, sinking a record 31 vessels and damaging two others. He was also credited with the recovery at sea of more than 20 downed airmen.

The Tang was eventually stopped by an errant torpedo that sank the sub and caused the deaths of all but eight sailors. O'Kane, who was thrown from the deck into the water by the initial explosion, survived the ordeal but spent the balance of the war in a Japanese prison-of-war camp.

O'Kane, who would rise to the rank of Rear Admiral, received the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit, the Navy Cross and a slew of other decorations. He died in 1994 at age 83. He's buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 59, Grave 874.

He was the kind of sailor they name ships after. The USS O'Kane. Now it means something.

Be safe out there, Zach. You're riding with history.