Recalling Those Lost on USS Cole
Oct. 13, 2000 -- Some were still teenagers. Two were young women. Several hadfathers who preceded them in serving their country. Most grew up insmall or midsize towns and joined the Navy with adventure as wellas duty in mind.
On Thursday, 7 sailors died and 10 more were missing and presumed dead when a suspectedterrorist bomb tore through the hull of the destroyer USS Coleduring a refueling stop in Yemen.
One of the victims, Cherone Gunn, aspired to be a policeman andsaw the Navy as a steppingstone. Another sailor, Kevin Rux,actually tried police work after 10 years in the Navy, butreconsidered — and re-enlisted last summer.
Sharon Priepke of Fond du Lac., Wis. — whose son, 24-year-old MarcNieto, was among the dead — probably spoke for all the grievingfamilies.
“He had goals to the sky and he was going to achieve thosegoals,” she said, clutching some of her son’s commendations. “Hewas just starting to live his life.”
A brief look at some of the dead and missing:
Lakeina Monique Francis
Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, of Woodleaf, N.C., a messmanagement specialist aboard the Cole, graduated from high schoollast year and followed her father into a military career. “Thefamily is taking it real hard,” said the Rev. Willie Gray, aneighbor.
Two of Francis’ brothers, James and David, play footballat West Rowan High School. “We’re just going to work with theboys, help them through the day, do whatever the mom and dad wouldlike us to help them through this,” said the school principal,Henry Kluttz.
Tim Gauna
Information Systems Technician Tim Gauna, 21, of Rice, Texas,was a 1997 graduate of Ennis High School. Teachers said he was aquiet student who excelled in baseball and art.
In 1999, he joinedthe Navy as a radio man. “He went there to better himself, to makea better life for himself,” said his mother, Sarah Gauna. Thefamily last heard from Gauna by phone a few days ago as the Coleheaded for a secret destination. “He just kept saying, ‘We’re in dangerous waters, Mom, but we’re OK. I’ll be OK. I promise you,’”Sarah Gauna said.
Cherone Louis Gunn
Signalman Seaman Recruit Cherone Louis Gunn, 22, grew up inVirginia Beach, Va., but lived with an aunt and uncle in Rex, Ga.,in recent years. He enrolled in the Navy in January because hewanted to be a policeman someday, said Brandon Ervin, a formerneighbor in Rex. Ervin said Gunn used to baby-sit for his children. “Most guys his age, their thing is to go out and party, not togive their time to anyone else,” Ervin said. “To see a guy likehim be able to share his time with children, that was reallygreat.”
Andrew Triplett
Ensign Andrew Triplett from Macon, Miss., had been in the Navyfor 13 years. “He was a good family man. He had two children andhe was just a likable person,” said his mother, Savannah Triplett,a cook at C&K Super Stop in the small Mississippi town ofShuqualak.
“He just loved the Navy. That’s all he used to talkabout.” Triplett, who will be buried in Norfolk, Va., where helived with his wife, Laurie, of Detroit, and their children.
Ronchester Santiago
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronchester Santiago, 22, of Kingsville,Texas, had been in the Navy since graduating in 1996 from H.M. KingHigh School. He was scheduled to get out of the service in Decemberand planned to study electrical engineering at the University ofTexas at Austin.
“He was attracted to the adventure in the Navy,”said his father, Rogelio Santiago, a retired Navy petty officerfirst class. “He wanted to see the world. He just wanted theexperience.”
Craig Wibberley
Duties aboard the Cole for Seaman Craig Wibberley, 19, ofWilliamsport, Md., included raising and lowering the destroyer’ssmall anchor. “He was a good all-American boy,” said the Rev.Anne Weatherbolt, the Wibberley family minister.
“Any time there’sa loss on a small community everybody feels it.” His mother, PattyWibberley, is a nursing assistant at an assisted-living center.“I’m just numb. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” she said.
One ofWibberley’s friends, Tyler Growden, 19, said the two liked to fishin the Potomac River. He and others described Craig — who graduatedfrom Washington Technical High School last year — as someone whohad no enemies.
Kevin Shawn Rux
Kevin Shawn Rux, 31, of Portland, N.D., was an electronicswarfare technician on the Cole, and son of a Navy veteran. “Hisdad was Navy lifetime, and he was so much like his dad,” saidRux’s aunt, Joy Ust, of Finley, N.D. Ust said most of Rux’sfamily, including his mother, lives in West Virginia.
Rux joinedthe Navy after high school, stayed about 10 years, then tried beinga policeman, Ust said, but this summer decided to re-enlist inthe Navy. Rux was married; his wife lives near where the Cole isbased in Norfolk, Va.
Lakiba Nicole Palmer
Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer of San Diego graduated in1996 from San Diego High, where she was a stalwart on the trackteam. “She was a hard worker and a dedicated athlete, well-likedby the rest of her teammates,” said Paul Locher, her former coach. Palmer specialized in the sprints and 400-meter relay. “We’re allsaddened by this,” Locher said.
Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter
Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth EugeneClodfelter, 21, of Mechanicsville, Va., was planning to sign up foranother tour of duty in January. He was the father of a 2-year-oldboy, Noah. Clodfelter graduated from Lee-Davis High School inMechanicsville in 1997, and was described as a good student whowrestled and played football. He was an Eagle Scout.
Marc Nieto
Engineman 2nd Class Marc Nieto, 24, of Fond du Lac, Wis., joinedthe Navy six years ago and was just two weeks away from finishinghis stint in the service. His mother, Sharon Priepke, said Nietoworked in the engine room on the Cole and loved repairingmachinery.
“His biggest joy in life was his vehicles, working onthe engines. He was always into engines and repairing,” she said.“He had himself a truck and he had himself an ’81 Camaro that hehad been working on and rebuilding the engine.”
Ronald Scott Owens
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald Scott Owens, 24, was a native ofVero Beach, Fla., married, with a 4-year-old daughter. He graduatedfrom Vero Beach High in 1994, joined the Navy in 1998 and had justshipped out in August for his first tour.
He e-mailed his wifeWednesday about plans for a weekend vacation to the beach when hereturned home in February. “Always at the end of his letters, hesaid, ‘Keep smiling. I’ll be home soon,“‘ said his wife, Jamie.
Richard Costelow
Electronics Technician 1st Class Richard Costelow, 35, was fromMorrisville, Pa., a blue-collar suburb across the Delaware Riverfrom Trenton, N.J. His wife and three children had been staying atthe Paxtuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, Md.
“Thewhole Costelow family, they are wonderful people,” said AntoinetteAbel, who grow up across the street from them in Morrisville.