NORFOLK, Va.–A ceremony was held Monday to remember the 17 people killed in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, which happened 15 years ago. Mississippian Andrew Triplett, of Shuqualak, an Ensign in the Navy, was killed in the attack.
When he died, Triplett had been in the Navy for 13 years.
The Cole was attack in Yemen. A bomb was sent to the side of the ship on a raft and exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the side that nearly sunk the vessel. The crew remained on board after the attack and kept it from going down.
The attack by Al Qaeda preceded the Sept. 11 attacks by just under a year.
Though the ship was home-ported in Virginia, it was built in Mississippi, at Ingalls, which is where it was returned in December 2000 to be repaired.
The Cole remains in service today.
