A Great Military Honor for Cheshire Native

Student life

By Neeha Zaman, 2022

Published 4/12/21

Barnum is pictured in the center, with his wife Martha Hill on the left. Photo courtesy of the Meriden Record Journal.

On Tuesday April 6th, retired U.S. Marine Col. Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (CHS Class of 1958) was honored by having a commissioned Navy ship named after him. The event took place at Bath Iron Works in Maine. U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King as well as U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, all of Maine, joined in the events at the shipbuilder. Barnum and his wife Martha Hill together drove welding arcs into a steel plate that will be part of the hull of the future USS Harvey C. Barnum, Jr., a guided missile destroyer currently being built.

Barnum served 27 years in the military and was the fourth Marine Medal of Honor recipient in Vietnam. He was born in Cheshire in 1940 and a graduate of the Class of 1958. While at CHS he was class president and played football and baseball.