Feb 17, 2004
AUTHENTICATION -- Mrs. Silke Boie Hagee, Ship's Sponsor for Makin Island (LHD 8), signs her initials on the keel plate of the eighth multipurpose amphibious assault ship being built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, as her husband, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, left, and U.S. Senator Trent Lott, of Mississippi, wait their turn to authenticate the keel. Thirty-five year Northrop Grumman Ship Systems veteran welder Willie Griffin, of Moss Point, performed the ceremonial welding of the authenticators' initials on the keel plate, signifying that the keel was 'truly and fairly laid.''