We here at Lockheed Martin know many of the sailors on the
USS Cole. Some of them are Hams who I have remained in
touch with. Today is the memorial service for the fallen
men and women of the USS Cole.
I was forwarded this email from a fellow engineer in my
office and thought I would share it with you. I know it not
pertinent to the reflector but some times these things give
us a perspective on our lives.
The following message from a LT Landry, a SH60 pilot
serving in the
Persian Gulf, was forwarded to me this morning. A good
read as the
memorial service in Norfolk winds up this morning:
_____
"It wasn't until a few days ago though, that we started
doing something
that I feel may be the first thing I've seen in my short
Naval career
that has truly made a difference. Right now we're
supporting the USS
COLE and her crew in Aden. When the attack occurred we were
a day away.
Just by luck we happened to be on our way out of the Gulf
and headed
towards the Suez and could get here in a relatively short
amount of
time.
I know what you all have seen on CNN, because we have seen
it too. I
just want you all to know that what you see doesn't even
scratch the
surface. I'm not going to get into it for obvious reasons.
But I will
tell you that right now there are 250+ sailors just a few
miles away
living in hell on Earth. I'm sitting in a nice air
conditioned state
room, they're sleeping out on the decks at night. You can't
even imagine
the conditions they're living in, and yet they are still
fighting 24
hours a day to save their ship and free the bodies of those
still
trapped and send them home. As bad as it is, they're doing
an incredible
job.
The very fact that these people are still functioning is
beyond my
comprehension. Whatever you imagine as the worst, multiply
it by ten and
you might get there. Today I was tasked to photograph the
ship and
surrounding area. It looked so much worse than I had
imagined,
unbelievable really, with debris and disarray everywhere,
the ship
listing, the hole in her side. I wish I had the power to
relay to you
all what I have seen, but words just won't do it. I do want
to tell you
the first thing that jumped out at me - the Stars and
Stripes flying. I
can't tell you how that made me feel...even in this God
forsaken hell
hole our flag was more beautiful than words can describe.
Then I started
to notice the mass of activity going on below, scores of
people working
non-stop in 90 plus degree weather to save this ship.
They're doing it
with almost no electrical power and they're sleeping (when
they can
sleep) outside on the decks because they can't stand the
smell or the
heat or the darkness inside.
They only want to eat what we bring them because they're
all scared of
eating something brought by the local vendors. Even with
all that, the
USS COLE and her crew is sending a message guys, and it's
that even acts
of cowardice and hate can do nothing to the spirit and
pride of the
United States. I have never been so proud of what I do, or
of the men
and women that I serve with as I was today. There are
sixteen confirmed
dead sailors who put it on the line for all of us, and some
of them are
still trapped here. Please take a minute to pray for their
families and
say a word of thanks for their sacrifice - one made so that
we can live
the lives that we do. All of you that serve with me, thank
you. All of
you that have loved ones that
serve, thank you."
V/R
LT Landry
=====
Carl HYDE
W2CSH
Remember, the opposite of PROGRESS is CONGRESS
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