Staff and students from Training Support Center (TSC), Great Lakes came together to remember those sailors that died, during a remembrance ceremony at BEQ 6301, the USS Cole’s namesake barracks, Oct. 12. 
    Twelve years ago on Oct. 12, 2000 at 11:18 am, the USS Cole came under attack by what was thought at the time to be a small fishing or merchant vessel.  What would happen next changed  lives.
    “As long as this building (USS Cole) is standing, I hope that the future sailors will never forget what happened on the Cole on this day,” said GSMC(SW) Roman Sado.
    Seventeen sailors died that that day and 39 were injured while the USS Cole was docked in the Aden Harbor, Yemen, for a routine refueling.  Two suicide bombers in a small craft armed with several hundred pounds of explosives blasted a 40-by 40-foot hole in the USS Cole’s port side. For the next four days sailors worked around the clock with little to no rest caring for the wounded, recovering every last sailor that perished in the attack and repairing the damage to the hull of the ship.
    New sailors were reminded of the ultimate sacrifice that was made by those who have gone before them. The ceremony was lead in prayer by Cmdr. Lynn Peterson, command chaplain TSC, Great Lakes. 
     “The event was colored by the memories of people,” commented Peterson. “I remember sailors I met a few years after the attack who were still recovering from their injuries and felt that their sacrifices serve to consolidate our sense of purpose as a team.”