The USS Naifeh (DE-352) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort laid down on December 29, 1943, and launched on February 29, the following year. It was commissioned on July 4, 1944, under Lt. Cmdr. J. S. Albert’s command as DE-352 and served in the U.S. Navy for 16 years until it was decommissioned on June 17, 1960. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 215 people on board and had its main missions in Norfolk, New Guinea, Ulithi, Guam, Leyte, Okinawa, Manila, Panama Canal, Songjin, and San Diego. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on January 1, 1966, and used as a target ship during training exercises the same year. Thousands of Navy veterans who once faced exposure to asbestos on a daily basis are now left to deal with life-threatening conditions many decades later. The symptoms of asbestos-related pulmonary conditions often imitate the signs of minor illnesses that are otherwise non-threatening. Though nothing can atone for the pain and suffering the effects of asbestos exposure can cause, Navy veterans and their loved ones deserve to be compensated for the danger they were exposed to and the conditions they developed.
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