A single moment in time can define the future and impact lives in ways beyond the comprehension of many Americans. For the crew and families who suffered the unimaginable loss of their Sailor, that moment in time came at 11:18 a.m. on October 12, 2000. Those of us who directly experienced that brutal Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on our ship, that moment in time loops back to play over and over in our minds. Now, each of us who was there, along with many in the Navy and the nation, will pause to reflect on the past 25 years of how that moment affected our lives. We live with the crystal-clear memory of those who chose to serve our nation and died for our freedom. Their sacrifice remains paramount in our thoughts and prayers.
USS Cole spent a year training for deployment to the Mediterranean and the Middle East with a clearly defined mission — safeguard U.S. national security through presence operations and maritime interdiction of illicit vessels smuggling oil out of Iraq. The crew was really good, but I knew I could demand better of them and was relentless in achieving more. Ultimately, our standards of performance and training were higher than any ship on the Norfolk waterfront.
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