ARIEL BOLUDOVSKY
Guest
Remember the USS Cole? It is the American destroyer that was hit by an al
Qaeda bomb in Yemen in October 2000, killing 17. Damaged but not
destroyed, the Cole returned to service in December 2003. Columnist
Michael Smerconish writes in the Philadelphia Daily News about the Cole's
most recent mission:
Before arriving in Philadelphia, the Cole participated in the annual
Baltic Sea operations, a joint exercise of 11 nations. But the Cole took
an unexpected detour on the way here, for reasons that offer a symbolic
story about the U.S. military, one which hasn't been told until now. Here
is the way [Cmdr. Brian] Solo spelled out the itinerary in an e-mail to
me:
"At 2300 hours on 27 June, COLE received word via the Coast Guard
regarding a medical emergency aboard a civilian sailboat in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean... more than 300 [nautical miles] to the southeast of
COLE's position. The patient was initially reported to have appendicitis.
Due in Philadelphia, COLE nevertheless turned and headed, at best speed
(30+ knots) towards the position of the sailboat. Simultaneously, the
merchant vessel CHIQUITA NEDERLAND, who was in the vicinity of the
sailing vessel, took the patient, a 16-year-old French national, on
board, and then headed at best speed to the northwest to meet COLE."
Yes, one of the Navy's finest--in the midst of the war on terror--changed
course to save a French teenager. (This isn't a picture of the military
the mainstream media is anxious to portray. It's far too sympathetic.)
BOLUDOVSKY
PS: Hey France, de rien.
Qaeda bomb in Yemen in October 2000, killing 17. Damaged but not
destroyed, the Cole returned to service in December 2003. Columnist
Michael Smerconish writes in the Philadelphia Daily News about the Cole's
most recent mission:
Before arriving in Philadelphia, the Cole participated in the annual
Baltic Sea operations, a joint exercise of 11 nations. But the Cole took
an unexpected detour on the way here, for reasons that offer a symbolic
story about the U.S. military, one which hasn't been told until now. Here
is the way [Cmdr. Brian] Solo spelled out the itinerary in an e-mail to
me:
"At 2300 hours on 27 June, COLE received word via the Coast Guard
regarding a medical emergency aboard a civilian sailboat in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean... more than 300 [nautical miles] to the southeast of
COLE's position. The patient was initially reported to have appendicitis.
Due in Philadelphia, COLE nevertheless turned and headed, at best speed
(30+ knots) towards the position of the sailboat. Simultaneously, the
merchant vessel CHIQUITA NEDERLAND, who was in the vicinity of the
sailing vessel, took the patient, a 16-year-old French national, on
board, and then headed at best speed to the northwest to meet COLE."
Yes, one of the Navy's finest--in the midst of the war on terror--changed
course to save a French teenager. (This isn't a picture of the military
the mainstream media is anxious to portray. It's far too sympathetic.)
BOLUDOVSKY
PS: Hey France, de rien.