On October 12, 2000, suicide terrorists exploded a small boat alongside the USS Cole (DDG 67) as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden. The blast ripped a 40-foot-wide hole near the waterline of the Cole, killing 17 American sailors and injuring many more.
Below are the names of those who were killed:
HT3Kenneth Clodfelter, 21
ET1 Richard Costelow, 35
MSSR Lakeina Francis, 19
* ITSN Tim Gauna, 21
SNSR Cherone Gunn, 22
SN James McDaniels, 19
EN2Marc Nieto, 24
* EW3Ronald Owens, 24
SR Lakiba Palmer, 22
ENFN Joshua Parlett, 19
FA Patrick Roy, 19
* EW2 Kevin Rux, 30
MS3Ronchester Santiago, 22
OS2 Timothy Saunders, 32
FN Gary Swenchonis Jr., 26
ENS Andrew Triplett, 30
SA Craig Wibberley, 19
*Members of the Information Warfare Community (IWC).
The USS Cole is named after Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole (July 20, 1920 – February 19, 1945), a United States Marine who posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his “conspicuous gallantry” at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.
12 October 2019 at 10:30
I had no idea the USS COle was named for a Marine who was killed in WWII and received the Medal of Honor. I remember the attack on the USS Cole like it was yesterday.
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12 October 2019 at 14:33
USS COLE motto
Gloria Merces Virtutis. “Glory is the Reward. of Valor“
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13 October 2020 at 12:21
Fair winds and following seas shipmates. May you never be forgotten.
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