The guided missile destroyer USS Cole arrives for a scheduled port visit to Souda Bay, Greece, July 19, 2012. Cole, homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, is on a scheduled deployment and operating in the US 6th Fleet area of responsibility. US Navy photo by Paul Farley.
On Oct. 12, 2000, al Qaeda terrorists carried out a suicide-bombing attack on the guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) while the ship was refueling in Yemen’s Aden harbor. Seventeen US sailors were killed and dozens injured in the attack.
For the 20th anniversary of the deadly attack, the talented filmmakers at the Navy’s All Hands Magazine produced a powerful 10-minute minidocumentary that takes viewers inside the chaos of that day, highlighting the strength, courage, and perseverance of the service members who survived as well as the loss and aftermath of the tragedy.
Through interviews with retired Command Master Chief James Parlier, retired Master Chief Paul Abney, and Gold Star mother Dianne McDaniels — whose son, Seaman James R. McDaniels, was killed in the attack — the filmmakers provide a powerful look inside a tragic chapter in American history.
Watch it here.
Ethan E. Rocke is a contributor and former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine, a New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning photographer and filmmaker. He is a veteran of the US Army and Marine Corps. His work has been published in Maxim Magazine, American Legion Magazine, and many others. He is co-author of The Last Punisher: A SEAL Team THREE Sniper’s True Account of the Battle of Ramadi.
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