Navy Dads

~ God Bless the 17 sailors that were killed in a suicide bomb attack ~

We will never forget the 17 sailors that lost their lives today, October 12, 2000.  These sailors were killed aboard the USS Cole while loading supply in Yemen.  This suicide attack was a total surprise and a sad day for the Navy.

 

Now some education, even though it is sad....

 

Alot of people know about the USS Cole, but they don't know the rest of the story.  Only those old time sailors do.  Civilian's haven't a clue, until now....

 

Although recognized in most media and newspaper reports as "Electronics Technician First Class", Richard Costelow was not just eligible for Chief Petty Officer and advanced posthumously as were his fallen shipmates, but had met all of the requirements of time-in-service, qualifications, and the advancement exam to be frocked (earning the benefits of the paygrade, except the pay) to Chief Petty Officer. He also participated in the Chief Petty Officer Initiation, which many (if not all) Chiefs will tell you is a major accomplishment in itself.  He just didn't reach the date of receiving his actual pay for his advancement.  


You might be thinking, "Ok, why is this so significant?" It is significant, because Richard Costelow died in the Chief's Mess where only Chiefs can be, and was the only Chief killed in the attack. 8 others were injured, but Richard Costelow met his fate while wearing the uniform and being in the space of a Chief Petty Officer. 

So please remember that it was Chief Costelow who died with his 16 shipmates.

 

Photo of Chief Costelow (ie the white guy) as he receives his CPO Creed from one of his shipmates, September, 2000 (20 days before the suicide attack)

 

 The USS Cole:

Cherone Gunn
Cherone Gunn

Signalman SR

Rex, Ga.

 

Signalman Seaman Recruit Cherone Louis Gunn, 22, grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., but lived with an aunt and uncle in Rex, Ga., in recent years. He enrolled in the Navy in January because he wanted to be a policeman someday, said Brandon Ervin, a former neighbor in Rex. Ervin said Gunn used to baby-sit for his children. “Most guys his age, their thing is to go out and party, not to give their time to anyone else,” Ervin said. “To see a guy like him be able to share his time with children, that was really great.”

 

James McDaniels

James McDaniels

Seaman

Norfolk, Va.

McDaniels was on his first overseas deployment. He planned to stay in the Navy for three years, then use the money he saved to attend college, said his mother, Diane McDaniels. The 6-foot-4 McDaniels -- "Little Mac" to his friends and family -- played basketball at Norview High School and enjoyed pickup games with his Navy buddies. The day before the explosion, he sent an e-mail to his girlfriend, asking her to tell his mother to mail him combat boots to replace his worn out pair.

 

Timothy Saunders

Timothy Saunders

OS 2

Ringgold, Va.

 

Saunders was a former track and football star at Dan River High School. Principal Carissa Knight remembered him as a kindhearted person involved in a lot of activities. Saunders, a career Navy man, was married and the father of two daughters, ages 10 and 7.

 

Lakiba Palmer

Lakiba Palmer

Seaman Recruit

San Diego, Ca.

 

Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer of San Diego graduated in 1996 from San Diego High, where she was a stalwart on the track team. “She was a hard worker and a dedicated athlete, well-liked by the rest of her teammates,” said Paul Locher, her former coach. Palmer specialized in the sprints and 400-meter relay. “We’re all saddened by this,” Locher said.

 

Richard Costelow

Richard Costelow

ET Chief

Morrisville, Pa.

 

Electronics Technician 1st Class Richard Costelow, 35, was from Morrisville, Pa., a blue-collar suburb across the Delaware River from Trenton, N.J. His wife and three children had been staying at the Paxtuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, Md.

“The whole Costelow family, they are wonderful people,” said Antoinette Abel, who grow up across the street from them in Morrisville.

 

Andrew Triplett
Andrew Triplett

Ensign

Macon, Miss.

 

Ensign Andrew Triplett from Macon, Miss., had been in the Navy for 13 years. “He was a good family man. He had two children and he was just a likable person,” said his mother, Savannah Triplett, a cook at C&K Super Stop in the small Mississippi town of Shuqualak.

“He just loved the Navy. That’s all he used to talk about.” Triplett, who will be buried in Norfolk, Va., where he lived with his wife, Laurie, of Detroit, and their children.

 

Craig Wibberley
Craig Wibberley

Seaman Apprentice

Williamsport, Md.

 

Duties aboard the Cole for Seaman Craig Wibberley, 19, of Williamsport, Md., included raising and lowering the destroyer’s small anchor. “He was a good all-American boy,” said the Rev. Anne Weatherbolt, the Wibberley family minister.

“Any time there’s a loss on a small community everybody feels it.” His mother, Patty Wibberley, is a nursing assistant at an assisted-living center. “I’m just numb. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” she said.

One of Wibberley’s friends, Tyler Growden, 19, said the two liked to fish in the Potomac River. He and others described Craig — who graduated from Washington Technical High School last year — as someone who had no enemies.

 

Gary Swenchonis Jr.
Gary Swenchonis Jr.

Fireman

Rockport, Texas

 

Swenchonis joined the Navy two years ago after four years in the Army. His parents, Gary and Deborah Swenchonis, said he planned to make the Navy his career.

 

Kenneth Clodfelter

Kenneth Clodfelter

HT3

Mechanicsville, Va.

 

Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21, of Mechanicsville, Va., was planning to sign up for another tour of duty in January. He was the father of a 2-year-old boy, Noah. Clodfelter graduated from Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville in 1997, and was described as a good student who wrestled and played football. He was an Eagle Scout.

 

Lakeina Francis

Lakeina Francis

MSSN

Woodleaf, N.C.

Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, of Woodleaf, N.C., a mess management specialist aboard the Cole, graduated from high school last year and followed her father into a military career. “The family is taking it real hard,” said the Rev. Willie Gray, a neighbor.

Two of Francis’ brothers, James and David, play football at West Rowan High School. “We’re just going to work with the boys, help them through the day, do whatever the mom and dad would like us to help them through this,” said the school principal, Henry Kluttz.

 

 

Timothy Gauna
Timothy Gauna

ITSN

Rice, Texas

Information Systems Technician Tim Gauna, 21, of Rice, Texas, was a 1997 graduate of Ennis High School. Teachers said he was a quiet student who excelled in baseball and art.

In 1999, he joined the Navy as a radio man. “He went there to better himself, to make a better life for himself,” said his mother, Sarah Gauna. The family last heard from Gauna by phone a few days ago as the Cole headed for a secret destination. “He just kept saying, ‘We’re in dangerous waters, Mom, but we’re OK. I’ll be OK. I promise you,’” Sarah Gauna said.

 

Marc Nieto
Marc Nieto

EN2

Fond du Lac, Wis.

 

Engineman 2nd Class Marc Nieto, 24, of Fond du Lac, Wis., joined the Navy six years ago and was just two weeks away from finishing his stint in the service. His mother, Sharon Priepke, said Nieto worked in the engine room on the Cole and loved repairing machinery.

“His biggest joy in life was his vehicles, working on the engines. He was always into engines and repairing,” she said. “He had himself a truck and he had himself an ’81 Camaro that he had been working on and rebuilding the engine.

 

Ronald Owens
Ronald Owens

EWT3

Vero Beach, Fla.

 

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald Scott Owens, 24, was a native of Vero Beach, Fla., married, with a 4-year-old daughter. He graduated from Vero Beach High in 1994, joined the Navy in 1998 and had just shipped out in August for his first tour.

He e-mailed his wife Wednesday about plans for a weekend vacation to the beach when he returned home in February. “Always at the end of his letters, he said, ‘Keep smiling. I’ll be home soon,“‘ said his wife, Jamie.

 

Joshua Parlett
Joshua Parlett

ENFN

Churchville, Md.

 

Parlett joined the Navy last year after graduating from high school. "He believed in what he was doing," said his father, Leroy Parlett.

 

Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy

Fireman Apprentice

Keedysville, Md.

 

Roy was from a town of 500 with a downtown boasting little more than a post office and a church. He attended boarding school at the Storm King School in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, where he captained the lacrosse team, managed the wrestling team and acted in school plays. He enlisted after graduating last year. "He was a nice kid who wanted to serve his country," said Michael Walsh, a family friend. "It was something that he wanted to do. We are trying to take some solace from that."

 

Kevin Rux

Kevin Rux

EWT1

Portland, N.D.

 

Kevin Shawn Rux, 31, of Portland, N.D., was an electronics warfare technician on the Cole, and son of a Navy veteran. “His dad was Navy lifetime, and he was so much like his dad,” said Rux’s aunt, Joy Ust, of Finley, N.D. Ust said most of Rux’s family, including his mother, lives in West Virginia.

Rux joined the Navy after high school, stayed about 10 years, then tried being a policeman, Ust said, but this summer decided to re-enlist in the Navy. Rux was married; his wife lives near where the Cole is based in Norfolk, Va.

 

Ronchester Santiago
Ronchester Santiago

MS3

Kingsville, Texas

 

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronchester Santiago, 22, of Kingsville, Texas, had been in the Navy since graduating in 1996 from H.M. King High School. He was scheduled to get out of the service in December and planned to study electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

“He was attracted to the adventure in the Navy,” said his father, Rogelio Santiago, a retired Navy petty officer first class. “He wanted to see the world. He just wanted the experience.”

 

They were too young to die!

YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

 

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Thank you Craig for posting this. I've been looking in on research of this tragic event and just discovered this memorial.

It is especially poignant to me as Tom Wibberley, Craig's grandfather, was a long time family friend and my best man at my wedding many years back. My own son has been in the NAVY for over 13 years now and we live with this on our hearts and mind.

They will never be forgotten. May God rest their souls.

Ric

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