http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhsMl-wb64o

On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was attacked by suicide bombers in the port of Aden, Yemen, while refueling. Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 17 sailors and injured another 39. Chief Petit Officer Sean Taitt remembers being injured in the bombing: “It took me hours to get just to the second deck from the third deck. It should only take you maybe 30 seconds up the ladder well.” With his leg badly damaged, Taitt says of his inability to help his fellow sailors: “At that point, I felt that I had failed rather than being a survivor.”

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Soldier Recalls Attack on USS Cole appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om-RkdIlKZU

Kirk Lippold was commander of the USS Cole when it was attacked on October 12, 2000, while refueling in the port of Aden, Yemen. Lippold was in his office when the attack happened, and recalls rushing to open the door of his office: “This huge cloud of grey smoke just silently washed over me.” Of seeing the site of the attack, he says: “It was as if a giant had taken their fist, punched it into the ship and then pulled it back out… The amount of devastation inside that ship was beyond anything the Navy had seen or experienced since kamikaze attacks in World War II.”

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USS Cole Commander Remembers Attack appeared first on Witnify.