In response to a thread raging right now in the Pit, I thought it would be appropriate to actually pay some respect to the men and women who died and were wounded aboard the USS Cole.
These people were volunteers. No was was drafted. They volunteered to stand guard and protect what the USA as a nation values above all else - freedom. The veterans of war are often remembered, and rightfully so, for the sacrifices they made to protect this country in times of war.
Who remembers the peacetime soldiers?
Too often, people forget that although we serve in peacetime, we don’t have to serve at all. There is nobody in the US military who was pressed into service. This nation does not force it’s citizens to protect its borders and its freedom. We sign the papers knowing full well we may be forced into combat with another nation. We volunteer to protect this country and its interests at the risk of our lives. When I enlisted, the Gulf War had already ended. It was possible we’d go back to hostilities with Iraq, but I admit I didn’t think it was likely. The invasion of Haiti was unexpected when I signed the papers. But when the situation arose, we went. We flew out of Ft Bragg NC, not knowing where we were headed at the time, but willing to fight in the name of freedom in Haiti if that’s where we were being sent. Luckily for me and those in my squadron, we did not have to fight.
Although many never see combat, they are still ready to give their lives for the protection of freedom. That’s what the sailors of the USS Cole have done.
It’s times like these I wish I was more eloquent. All I can think to say however, is let us not dishonor their memories any longer with that tripe being flung about in the Pit. Let us remember that these soldiers - these volunteers - gave their lives for freedom and treat that with the utmost respect that it deserves.
Senior Airman Ron Jones
68th Intelligence Squadron
Brooks AFB, San Antonio TX
March 18, 1992 - March 17, 1996
Today I watched the memorial service for the men and women killed on the USS Cole. I cried not from what was said but rather for the loss of life.
These young people died because someone else thought enough of their cause to die for it and believed that the best way to make the world believe them was to take out as many with him as he could. What is sad is that I don’t understand what he stood for and don’t know that I really want to know. I do know that I do not believe in unprovoked violence to solve problems.
I would like to honor these 17 Navy servicemen. Lakeina Monique Francis, Tim Gauna, Cherone Louis Gunn, Andrew Triplett, Ronchester Santiago, Craig Wibberley, Kevin Shawn Rux, Lakiba Nicole Palmer, Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Marc Nieto, Ronald Scott Owens, Richard Costelow, Patrick Roy, Joshua Parlett, Gary Graham Swenchonis, James Rodrick McDaniels, and Timothy Lamont Saunders. They have served their country with honor and now may sleep with honor.
There are pacifist who will say serving in the military is not right. But is it not more right to defend your freedom and what you believe in? That is why I would also like to thank those serving in the US military right now. It is a hard time since the battle lines are not clearly defined. The military is like no other job. The fact of esprit de corps makes these men and women one large family.
But, not to stop there I would also like to thank those men and women serving in the military in other NATO countries. These men and women are also bravely fighting for freedom.
I appreciate the names being posted too, deb. We have a friend from high school in the Navy. We have trouble keeping up with him, but knew he is based in Virginia right now. Hubby keeps saying he doesn’t know anything. I’ve been afraid to read any names. I read your list though and he’s not there.
This is a little grisly, but why can’t they find ten of the sailors? The ship was sitting in port. I’d think that the bodies would wash ashore pretty quickly. It always bothers me a little when they can’t recover someone’s body.
Good question, Dice. A tab complicated for the uninitiated, but here’s how it goes.
A hull rupture at, or below, the waterline of a ship causes at least one compartment (what we sailors call “rooms” aboard a ship) to flood. If watertight doors and hatches are secured, this will prevent the flooding from progressing from compartment to compartment and from deck to deck.
All fittings (hatches, doors, ventilation ducts, etc.) are classified as either X, x-ray; [b/]Y[b/] yoke; or Z, zebra. X-ray provides the least amount of protection for a ship as only x-ray fittings are secured (closed); yoke the next level as x-ray and yoke fittings; zebra the most secure as all three classes are secured.
As a ship enters port it is either at yoke or modified zebra (X and Y secured above the waterline, X, Y and Z secured below the waterline). There is the possibility that one could get trapped in a flooding space, unconscious or too injured to egress the space.
The missing sailors are trapped in flooded compartments which cannot be reached by divers through the hole in Cole’s side. If the crew opened hatches within the hull of the ship to reach the dead sailor’s bodies, they would flood another compartment of the ship.
Therefore, the compartments are dewatered progressively until the bodies can be reached without putting the crew or ship at additional risk.
My parents brought me to this country as a child because they saw America as a great country where they could be free from the social oppression of Japan. I became a naturalized citizen, and I am proud to be an American. Heck, I’m probably more patriotic than many Americans who were born here and take their country for granted.
I have the highest regard for our men and women in uniform. Everyday, they defend my freedom and my Constitional rights. Our men and women in uniform protect the very civilians who disrespect them and call them names, and defend their right to free speech. Our military men and women sacrifice everything to protect our country. They’re called up at a moment’s notice to go on an overseas assignment, barely having time to kiss loved ones good-bye. In how many jobs is it assumed you might DIE for your country?
My ex-husband (who was prior-enlisted Navy and an Army captain) scolded me because I refuse to watch Saving Private Ryan to this day. It’s hard to explain… but the sheer jumble of emotions I feel (pride, respect, sadness) is too much for me to bear, and turns me into a blubbering, teary mess. When I hear news of something like the USS Cole, it’s all I can do not to cry at work.
In times of peace, in times of war. You’ll always have my support. And that’s a promise.
ChiefScott, you and the sailors aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower did a great job and yes you did your fallen seamen proud. I know it must have been rough to have to be the ones to host the event. God bless you and the sailors who sail with you.
I served during peacetime, 1989-1990 in the US Air Force. I got out 9 months before Desert Storm. I am proud of my military service.
“The young no longer speak, but they have a silence that speaks for them at night.
They say: we were young, remember us.
They say: we have done what we could, but until it is finished, it is not done.
They say: our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean what you make them.
They say: whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope, we cannot say; it is you who must say this.
They say: we leave your our deaths. Give them their meaning.”
Quoted by President Clinton from a poem by Archibald MacLeish at the memorial service. I defy anyone to read those lines and think of the sailors of the USS Cole and not cry. As I said in the other MPSIMS thread about the Cole, having served aboard a Navy ship, those men and women were my shipmates, too. I grieve for them.
For any of you who are wondering what you can do to help the families of the victims (from the Navy web site):
"Donation Information for the crew of USS Cole (DDG 67)
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society
801 North Randolph Street, Suite 1228
Arlington, VA 22203-1978
Please make checks out to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
Make memo on check: “For USS Cole”
Thank you for your support to the crew and families of USS Cole."
The NMCRS is assisting the families with various needs, including child care, emergency funds and counseling.
Thanks for posting a dignified thread about this. I read some of the tripe in the Pit and was too pissed to get through it all.
I think it’s interesting that so-called pacifists criticize those who serve. The Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine is the most dedicated pacifist in the world. When peace is lost, theirs is the blood that will be spilled first. They are willing to fight, kill, and die to protect their contry and our rights, and to restore peace.
I was never able to serve, injuries kept me from pursuing a commission as an Air Force officer. It is one of the greatest regrets of my life. Our military people, as well as those of our allies, have my deepest respect.
This act of cowardice has sickened me all week. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
I didn’t realize there was a place accepting donations until you posted that here. Had I checked this thread earlier, I would’ve bumped it myself for the same reason.
and ChiefScott says:
“Can it be sais [sic] that anyone truly serves in the Air Force?”
My favorite has always been
The Air Force: the civilian branch of the military.
When I think of how YOUNG most of the dead were I think of an inscription that is said to be on the Scottish Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If I write it here can anyone tell me if it is part of a greater whole? Or was it original to the monument, and what is the source and/or author?
“They shall not grow old
as we that are left grow old,
age shall not wither them
not the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we shall remember them…”
I am a veteran who served in peacetime, although once in Korea, while I was there, a scary incident occured, that I won’t go into now. I did my three years and got out with a whole skin, unlike the sailors aboard the USS Cole. God, how lucky I was.
thank you for the donation info, geobabe. i will post it at my office. a coworker has a sister on board the cole. we were all waiting to hear how she fared. luckily she is fine and he heard from her first hand on monday. your post will give our office a way to help her fallen comrades and thier families.
chief scott, thank you for your work on the memorial service. i was lucky enough to be home yestaurday and saw it on tv. seeing the injured sailors there in support of thier fallen comrades was very moving.