QUANTICO, Va. - Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro announced today that the future expeditionary sea base ship ESB 8 will be named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient and Korean War veteran Hector A. Cafferata Jr.
The future USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. is the first ship to bear his name. Naming an expeditionary sea base after Cafferata follows a tradition honoring Marines who served with distinction.
SECNAV Del Toro made the announcement during a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on Korean War Armistice Day.
Cafferata was born on Nov. 4, 1929, in New York City. His father was a Peruvian immigrant who ran a paper mill. The family eventually moved to the Montville, New Jersey area, where his mother grew up. After graduating from Boonton High School, Cafferata played semi-pro football while also working at a manufacturing plant for the Sun Dial Corporation. He joined the Marine Corps Reserve on Feb. 15, 1948, and served with a local unit, until he was called to active duty on Sept. 6, 1950. Cafferata was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. By mid-October, he was on his way to Korea.
In the early hours of Nov. 28, 1950, Cafferata was serving as a rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, in action against enemy forces. When all other members of his fire team became casualties, he waged a lone battle with grenades and rifle fire as an enemy attack gained momentum. Making a target of himself under devastating fire from automatic weapons, rifles, grenades, and mortars, Cafferata maneuvered up and down the line and delivered effective fire against the enemy force, killing 15, wounding many more, and forcing the others to withdraw so that reinforcements could move up and consolidate the position. As he fought against a renewed onslaught that same morning, a grenade landed in an entrenchment occupied by wounded Marines. Cafferata rushed into the gully under heavy fire, grabbed the grenade in his right hand, and hurled it free of his comrades before it detonated, severely wounding his right hand and arm. Despite intense pain, he fought on until he was struck by enemy fire and evacuated for medical treatment.
Cafferata retired from the service due to his wounds. He returned to New Jersey and spent the next few decades selling hunting and fishing equipment, working for the state's Division of Fish and Game and owning a bar. In 1965, he married Doris Giblock, and they had four children: Lynn, Deborah, Heather and Dale, who is a retired Air Force Major.
Jessica Cafferata, Dale Cafferata's daughter and the namesake's granddaughter, attended the ceremony.
Cafferata died in 2016 and was buried at Quantico National Cemetery in Virginia. His Medal of Honor and Purple Heart were entrusted to the school named in his honor - Hector A. Cafferata, Jr. Elementary School - in Cape Coral, Florida. School principal Dr. Jason Kurtz brought the medals to the naming ceremony.
The ESB ship class is highly flexible that may be used across a broad range of military operations supporting multiple operational phases, similar to the Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD) class. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and sustainment with flexible distribution.
Other ESBs named for Medal of Honor recipients include Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith, Private First Class Robert E. Simanek, Sergeant Major John L. Canley, Warrant Officer Herschel "Woody" Williams, and Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller, who, with five Navy Cross awards, is regarded as the most decorated Marine in Marine Corps history.
