The US Navy is set to name a new vessel after a Mayo man who served in the Vietnam War, as TheJournal.ie reports.

Patrick Gallagher emigrated from Ballyhaunis to the United States in 1962, joining the Marine Corps four years later as President Lyndon B Johnson escalated the American presence in Vietnam.

Lance Corporal Gallagher was killed in action in March 1967, less than a year after he was awarded the Navy Cross for his quick actions in saving fellow marines from a grenade attack.

Now the USS Gallagher, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, will carry the name of a man described as “an American hero”. TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.