Fort Ruger or Triangle Park near Diamond Head Circle was officially renamed Fort Ruger the Operation Red Wing-Medal of Honor Park - on Veterans Day. Operation Red Wing is the name of the mission in Afghanistan three years ago in which 19 soldiers and sailors were killed. Lt. Michael Murphy led a four-man SEAL team from Pearl Harbor's SEAL Delivery Team 1 that was ambushed. The SEALs were tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad.

Mortally wounded, Murphy left his position of cover to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit's location and requested immediate support. He was the first sailor to receive the Medal of Honor for action in the war in Afghanistan. Murphy and two other members of the SEAL team, Petty Officers 2nd Class Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson, were killed in the ambush. The other 13 sailors and soldiers who died were trying to rescue the Pearl Harbor SEALs.

City Councilman Charles Djou was instrumental in renaming the Kahala park after his first attempt to rename a park near Pearl Harbor was opposed by the Aiea Neighborhood Board and City Councilman Romy Cachola.

Ruger was Maj. Gen. Thomas Ruger, who fought in the Civil War on the Union side and later served as governor of Georgia during the Reconstruction period. The headquarters of the Hawaii National Guard is named after him and is located near the park.

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Chief Petty Officer Shenequa Cox of Dallas, Texas, who is assigned to the Navy Information Operations Command at Kunia, accompanied President Bush on Nov. 11 on Air Force One as part of the military delegation that flew to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York to participate in the ceremony commemorating Veterans Day.

Cox is the recipient of the Air Medal with four strike flights, two Navy Commendation medals, three Navy Achievement medals and other medals for her service as part in the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. She also was selected as the 2007 Naval Network Warfare Command sea sailor of the year.

MOVING UP

» Pearl Harbor: Cmdr. Michael McCarthy has assumed command of the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, relieving Cmdr. James Aiken.

“;In the Military”; was compiled from wire reports and other sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).