Anniversary of USS Cole bombing

I want to remember the good folks that were murdered five years ago, October 12, 2000. 19 were killed, 39 wounded. The Al-Qaeda attack left a 40 foot hole in the ship, nearly sinking it.

USS Cole Casualty List


Kenneth Clodfelter, 21, Mechanicsville, VA. Hull Maintenance Tech 3rd Class.
Richard Costelow, 35, Morrisville, PA. Electronics Technician 1rst Class.

Lakeina Francis, 19, Woodleaf, NC. Mess Management Specialist.

Tim Gauna, 21, Rice, TX. Information Systems Technician.

Cherone Gunn, 22, Rex, GA. Signalman Seaman Recruit.

James McDaniels, 19, Norfolk, VA. Seaman.

Marc Nieto, 24, Fond du Lac, WI. Engineman 2nd Class.

Ronald Owens, 24, Vero Beach, FL. Electonics Warfare Technician 3rd Class.

Lakiba Palmer, 22, San Diego, CA. Seaman Recruit.

Joshua Parlett, 19, Churchville, MD. Engineman Fireman.

Patrick Roy, 19, Keedysville, MD. Fireman Apprentice.

Kevin Rux, 30, Portland, ND. Electronics Warfare Technician.

Ronchester Santiago, 22, Kingsville, TX. Petty Officer 3rd Class.

Timothy Saunders, 32, Ringgold, VA. Operations Specialist 2nd Class.

Gary Swenchonis Jr., 26, Rockport, TX. Fireman.

Andrew Triplett, 30, Macon, MS. Ensign.

Craig Wibberley, 19, Williamsport, MD. Seaman Apprentice.

This is an interesting site detailing the the Cole's recovery:

http://www.pianoladynancy.com/recovery_usscole.htm

Bob

Thanks for posting this, so that we never forget any sacrifice made.

Thanks to all who stand in harm's way.

Is this really, really an anniversary? I hope no one in the US is celebrating it. Just bothers me when folks refer to 911 too as an anniversary.

I just watched a special on the history channel and we almost lost that ship from flooding if it werent for them cutting a hole in the side and used an emergency self contained self powered fire pump to remove the water from inside the ship.

Not "celebrating", only remembering and honoring them.

Why would referring to 9/11 as an anniversary be bothersome?

Though "anniversary" can be construed as "a celebration commemorating a date", the dictionary also shows the definition as "The annually recurring date of a past event, especially one of historical, national, or personal importance", which is how I use the term.

Bob

Just bothers me when folks refer to 911 too as an anniversary

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People have a tendency to want to forget horrible things if they aren't reminded once in a while. We cannot yet afford to forget 9/11 and the cole and all the other things that those people have done to us. Ultimately we can forgive them, but we can't allow ourselves to forget or there will be others that will take advantage of our false sense of security.

Thats why discussing the "anniverary" of these events is important.

Another reason is that facts that are sorely lacking in the first days are often much more clear a few years on. We can evaluate what happened in the light of how ever many years of investigation. Otherwise that information might never make the news. But on the anniversary we can all learn a lot more and more clearly about what happened that was missed in the heat of the moment.