USS Cole: 20 years of heroism, pain

It was typical steamy morning in Yemen, on Oct. 12, 2000, when the USS Cole eased past At-Tawahi point and the container port. As the ship entered the harbor, Machinist Mate Rick Harrison spotted a ship lying on its side. He made him feel uneasy. He asked a shipmate: "You have this feeling something is going to happen'?” The destroyer was headed for a brief refueling stop on the way to the Persian Gulf. About two hours after its captain, Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, won an argument with a Yemeni pilot to make sure the ship's bow was pointed to sea in case of needing a fast exit. A dinghy hugging close to a garbage barge suddenly broke away heading fast at the destroyer. It was 11:10 a.m. It steered close to port side, headed toward the stern. Within seconds it exploded. The blast tore a 32-by-36-foot hole in the ship’s side. It lifted the 505-foot-long destroyer out of the water, pushed the deck of the crew and chief’s galley up to the ceiling. Water poured into the engine room, auxiliary machine room and a store room. Seventeen sailors died, and 39 seriously injured. The 200 who survived spent days trying to find the missing, care for those who need, and battled desperately to keep the ship afloat. They worked in 100-plus degree heat, with the sickening smell of blood, rotting food and fear filling the air. (Source: Virginian-Pilot 10/08/20) https://www.pilotonline.com/military/dp-nw-cole-what-happened-20201008-v4qwdhggjrfgffzl22mycmc7ou-story.html Gulf Coast Note: Sailors aboard USS Cole with Gulf Coast ties included officer Andrew Triplett, a Mississippian, who was among those killed; Chief Boatswains' Mate Eric Kafka, son of former Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla., command master chief Randy Kafka; and Master Chief Hospital  Corpsman James Parlier, CMC of  Cole and former senior enlisted corpsman at Branch Health Clinics at NATTC Pensacola and the former Naval Station at Pascagoula, Miss. The attack happened one day before the Navy's 219th anniversary. Moment of silence: https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Statements/display-statements/Article/2371807/cno-asks-fleet-for-moment-of-silence-in-honor-of-uss-cole-20th-anniversary/