Honor the commissioning of the future USS Telesforo Trinidad.
Join a national effort to commission the first U.S. Navy warship named for a Filipino American Medal of Honor recipient — honoring Telesforo de la Cruz Trinidad, celebrating generations of Filipino and American service, and supporting the ship's commissioning ceremonies, crew, and families.
What one fireman teaches a fleet.
Four words were forged in a fireroom off La Paz on 21 January 1915. DDG-139 carries them into the next century.
The Code
Leave no shipmate. The code is written nowhere, and every sailor knows it. Blown clear of the No. 2 fireroom, Trinidad turned around and went back in — twice. That is the whole of the code, and he kept it.
Dedication
He did not serve a tour; he gave the Navy his working life. A young man from Panay who enlisted in an unfamiliar fleet, served through two world wars, and did not take off the uniform until 1945.
Resiliency
The blast from the No. 3 fireroom burned him about the face as he carried a shipmate out. He finished the rescue anyway — then finished his career, went home, and raised eleven children in quiet dignity.
Pride
For more than a century, no U.S. Navy warship carried a Filipino name. DDG-139 ends that silence. Every sailor who was ever told where he belonged will read her stern and know better.
For extraordinary heroism displayed while performing his duties as fireman second class during the boiler explosion aboard San Diego, 21 January 1915.Medal of Honor citation · 1915
Every name on the wall is a hand on the line.
Ceremonies worthy of his legacy. Support worthy of her crew.
Ships are commissioned once — and the ceremonies must reflect the historical significance of this one. Join the national effort to honor Telesforo de la Cruz Trinidad and generations of Filipino American service, and to provide enduring morale, welfare, and recreation support for the officers, crew, and families of DDG 139.