Village News - Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

SAN DIEGO - The Navy has a new cargo ship afloat today.

The USS Charles Drew is a 689-foot, Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship built in San Diego and named for Dr. Charles R. Drew, the Los Angeles-area surgeon who helped develop large-scale blood banks during World War II.

''Even though he was not in the military, his name is connected to saving lives in the military," the namesake's daughter Sylvia Drew Ivie, a political aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, told the Los Angeles Times. ''Whatever my politics are about the wars the U.S. is engaged in, taking care of...