Twelve years ago
today in the Port of Aden, Yemen, we, in the Navy community, lost 17 shipmates. The USS Cole (DDG-67) was attacked when suicide bombers pulled
alongside and detonated explosives. The resulting explosion tore a huge hole in
the side of the Cole and killed seventeen sailors and wounded thirty-nine.
The immensity of
such a tragedy is compounded exponentially when one of those lost is a coworker,
shipmate and friend.
Operations
Specialist 2
nd Class Timothy Saunders was that shipmate and friend.
I can hear Tim’s booming baritone voice with
that mid-Atlantic drawl asking me what was for dinner on the mess decks, asking
me to tell him what I did in port or if anything had happened on the mid watch.
He was the guy that was first to make a joke, usually at your expense, but it
was never filled with malice or ill feeling. He was genuinely giving you a good
ribbing and always had a contagious smile on his face. I can’t think of a
single time I didn’t see a wide grin on his face. The only thing that didn’t
pale in comparison to his smile was his sea stories… they were raucous and fun
to say the least, whether true or not is irrelevant now, but I sure loved
hearing them and the way he told them made you want to be there. Man that guy
could spin a yarn.
He was always first
to offer to take your mid-watch or duty day in a foreign port so you wouldn’t
miss any of the fun. He always acted as if he had been there, seen that and had
the tee shirt (usually in the form of a sea story) to prove it.
He took my duty day
in Brest, France because I had never been before, and the fog that delayed our
arrival in France had meant that I would not get ashore at all because of duty. His offer when he heard about my plight was immediate.
He took my duty so I could go ashore. He wanted all the details when I got back
aboard and we chatted in CDC for hours about it. I think he was just getting
interesting details for more of his sea stories. I am telling you that he could
have written a New York Times best seller with some of his tales.
I am not certain if Aden was a working port, I would wager
that if it were a liberty port, Tim was onboard that day because he was taking
a duty day for one of his shipmates that had not been to Yemen before or he
could just see that a shipmate needed that day off more than he did. Tim was
just that kind of guy. You could count on him. He was a guy that just enjoyed
himself even when the rest of us were bitching and moaning about this or that.
Tim was the guy that always saw the bright side and never had an ill word to
say about anyone or anything. I could take a lesson from Tim’s book even today.
Although I knew Tim
by the description above, Tim, and all 16 others, that died with him, fit
similar descriptions in one way or another, and all would certainly be called
by other more important names like son, daughter, father, brother, sister,
mother and husband or wife.
I would like to be
able to write something specific for all that died on the Cole that day but I only
knew Tim. So I take comfort in the belief that all of those sailors have
someone personally remembering them today.
All I can do is list their names here and hope that someone who
remembers them can, if they are so inclined, share something with us so they
can be remembered by us all as more than just a name on a list.
Thank you Tim; I am a better person today because I had the
honor of knowing you then.
On your eternal voyage I wish you fair winds and a following
sea.
Names of those
killed in the attack on the USS Cole:
Richard Costelow, Chief Petty Officer Morrisville,
Pennsylvania.
Cheron Luis Gunn, Signalman Seaman Recruit ,Rex, Georgia.
James Rodrick McDaniels, Seaman, Norfolk,
Virginia.
Lakiba Nicole Palmer, Seaman Recruit, San Diego, California.
Timothy Lamont Saunders, Operations
Specialist 2nd Class, Ringgold, Virginia.
Andrew Triplett, Ensign, Macon, Mississippi.
Craig Bryan Wibberley, Seaman
Apprentice, Williamsport, Maryland.
Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Hull
Technician 3rd Class, Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Lakeina Monique Francis, Mess Specialist
Seaman, Woodleaf, North Carolina.
Timothy Lee Gauna, Information Systems Technician
Seaman, Rice, Texas
Mark Ian Nieto,
Engineman 2nd Class, Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin.
Ronald Scott Owens, Electronics Warfare Technician
3rd Class, Vero Beach, Florida.
Joshua Langdon Parlett, Engineman
Fireman, Churchville, Maryland.
Patrick Howard Roy, Fireman Apprentice, Cornwall
on Hudson, New York.
Kevin Shawn Rux,
Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class,
Portland, North Dakota.
Ronchester Mananga Santiago, Mess
Specialist 3rd Class, Kingsville, Texas
Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., Fireman,
Rockport, Texas
