On this day, 11 years ago, in the Port of Aden, Yemen, 17 sailors were killed and 40 injured aboard the USS Cole, while it was in port for a routine refueling stop. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility. Sailors were lining up in the galley for lunch when cowards blew their little boat up causing a 40 foot gash in the hull.
They were honored, today, at the Cole memorial at Naval Station Norfolk. CBSnews.com reported:
The Cole’s current commanding officer, Cmdr. Andrew Ehlers, said during a rainy ceremony at the Cole’s homeport in Norfolk that much has changed since the last time they gathered to honor the victims a year ago. He noted that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was hunted down and killed and that al-Nashiri now faces criminal charges.
“Finally, perhaps, justice will be done,” he said….
Each of the victims’ names were read as a bell rang and a wreath was laid at a monument in their honor. About two dozen people who attended the ceremony sought shelter from the rain under the 28 black pine trees at the monument, which symbolize the 17 sailors who lost their lives and the 11 children they left behind.
I remember hitting my knees in front of the television, 8 years after I’d set foot on a Navy base for the last time, crying as if I knew those kids, personally. I was stunned. Outraged. Overwhelmed with grief. The rage and pain I felt would, sadly, be understood by average Americans less than a year later, in September.
Americans would do well to remember the words of President Clinton at the memorial service:
The idea of common humanity and unity amidst diversity, so purely embodied by those we mourn today, must surely confound the minds of the hate-filled terrorists who killed them. They envy our strength without understanding the values that give us strength. For them, it is their way or no way: their interpretation, twisted though it may be, of a beautiful religious tradition; their political views; their racial and ethnic views. Their way or no way.
Such people can take innocent life.
Remember them today, and the cowardice of our enemy in their little boats. They’ve no chance at success with their twisted excuses for homicide against the strength of a people endeavoring to do right.
The Fallen:
Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
Signalman Seaman Recruit Cheron Luis Gunn, Rex, Georgia.
Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, Norfolk, Virginia.
Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer, San Diego, California.
Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, Ringgold, Virginia.
Ensign Andrew Triplett, Macon, Mississippi.
Seaman Apprentice Craig Bryan Wibberley, Williamsport, Maryland.
Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, Woodleaf, North Carolina.
Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, Rice, Texas
Engineman 2nd Class Mark Ian Nieto, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Ronald Scott Owens, Vero Beach, Florida.
Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett, Churchville, Maryland.
Fireman Apprentice Patrick Howard Roy, Cornwall on Hudson, New York.
Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Kevin Shawn Rux, Portland, North Dakota.
Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Mananga Santiago, Kingsville, Texas
Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., Rockport, Texas
