by Naomi Cohen
The USS Michael Murphy will be the navy's newest commissioned warship on Saturday, with celebrations all week including parachute jumps over the Hudson River, cannon salutes at Pier 88 and bell ringing at the New York Stock Exchange. According to the [commissioning committee's website], the event "bring[s] a ship to life" and "marks entrance of a man-of-war into the naval forces of her nation." The warship, a guided missile destroyer, honors Murphy's courage while on service hunting a key Taliban leader in Asadabad. Murphy, the first winner of the Medal of Honor for the war in Afghanistan, was shot while trying to transmit a call for help. The crew of the future warship [paid respects](http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg112/Pages/USSMichaelMurphycrewhonorsnamesake.aspx) Tuesday by visiting commemorative sites in Smithtown, his home town. Murphy is also the namesake of a park and post office on Long Island, a combat training pool in Newport and a veterans' plaza at Penn State University, his alma mater. "The crew has so much pride in the fact that they carry on their patch the name USS Michael Murphy," Murphy's father [told ABC News](http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8836547). "You know Michael grew up as an ordinary young man on Long Island and became a national hero. It's emotionally trying but fulfilling at the same time." The commissioning ceremony will be invite-only, but the ship will be open to the general public Monday from 1 to 5 p.m.