 Welcome. I'm Commander Mark Yale, the Deputy Director for the Naval Staff College and International Programs at the Naval War College, and I've been asked to speak on the upcoming 20th anniversary of the USS Cole attack. On October 12, 2000, I was a Lieutenant on HCL 42, debt one, flying from the USS Hawes in the Arabian Sea. We unexpectedly received a call to return to the ship and shut down. We were told the order came from our commanding officer. The Hawes received tasking to assist the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, after experiencing a refueling casualty. We were familiar with Aden because we had conducted a brief stop for fuel there in August. During our transit Aden, we learned of the attack, the mounting casualties, and the damage to the ship. We arrived the next morning and my task was to take the rib, the rubid rigid hull inflatable boat to the Cole and assess the aviation facilities in case we needed to medivac personnel or fly equipment or personnel over to assist. I remember the size of the blast hole as we went by. When I came aboard the Cole with my lead air crewman, I was taken aback by the look of shock still on faces and in the body language of the crew. You could sense the weight of the situation on every crew member. The other surprising thing I wasn't expecting was how moved the crew was simply to see the small ones flying on the back of the rib. Many were nearly brought to tears by the sight. During the time on board, which was maybe one or two hours, there are many things, too many, that are still vivid memories in addition to those already mentioned. We spoke to numerous ships company and they recounted the brave actions taken by their fellow shipmates to save their fellow crewmanship. The horrific injuries suffered and how they were painfully pulled to safety through the twisted metal that seconds before had been the Mestex, their workspace or burden. There were also reports about those that were known to be killed by the blasts and a few whose whereabouts were still unknown but believed to be deceased. Reflecting back upon that visit, compared to other visits to other ships and squadrons, was the use of the pronouns we and us. Speaking to the crew of the Cole, everyone's comments were wholly inclusive. There was no mention of divisions or departments, simply we, us or the crew. After speaking to the crew, I was introduced to the Cole's commanding officer, Commander Kirk Lippell. After passing on our COs, reading and condolences for the loss of crew and the injured, he simply invited me or directed me to, I can't remember which, go see the whole. Haven't you only been inside a DGG once before? I had a vague idea of how it's spaced and conveyed. The devastation was beyond description. The light streaming in from the blast hole gave it the look of an indoor pool, the light shimmering off the overhead, which was actually the overhead from the deck below. Beyond the carnage surrounding me, I was struck by how calm he was. As he pointed out where we were actually looking at and the remains of the crew members that hadn't yet been recovered. The smell of explosives still saturated the air. Coming back topside, I started inspecting the aviation facilities. The crew were sleeping on the flight deck. The forward warp rep spot was littered with debris, which couldn't be moved until the FBI forensics team arrived and analyzed it. A midships directly over where the attack occurred. There was a section of the weatherdecks that was bubbled up nearly a foot. A watertight door facing aft and entering the forward superstructure was pushed out against the dogs as it was made of rubber and hardened. The force required to create this damage was unimaginable to me. During my cursory look at the aviation facilities, my lead crewman was being a true shipmate in every good sense of that word. Eddie Bowen, Dave Cross and Super Dave were just super to the deck. Just quietly going around to the crew, having them write down email addresses of their friends and family that had no idea of their thing on anything he could find. Knowing super, I'm sure he found a way to make them laugh as well. He came back to Haas and emailed every address telling them that their sailor was okay. The Haas then set up an email address that families could send messages to. Those emails were printed out and taken to the coal every day. Two of our other pilots also helped out with efforts on or around the coal. One pilot, a converted surface warfare officer, served as a boat officer on a rib which brought a security around the coal. The other, a part enlisted GSE, helped with damage control efforts inside coal. When I reflect on the coal, I'm amazed and proud of the honor, courage and commitment exuded namely by the coal crew and by all the others I played a small part in keeping the coal afloat and eventually getting her back into service. As a 20th anniversary of this tragic event years, please join me in a moment of silence to remember the 17 sailors that made the ultimate sacrifice of that day.