On September 11, 2006, we commemorated the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania. But when October 12, 2006 rolls around, will anyone think about what happened just eleven months before that day?
On October 12, 2000, an unspeakable act of terror occurred against one of our Navy’s ships. While it was refueling in Yemen, the USS Cole (DDG 67) was attacked by suicide bombers who approached the ship on a small boat. This attack was the deadliest against a US Naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark (FFG-31) in 1987. The attack on the Cole was organized by the same group which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks — Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. The explosion left a 40-by-40 foot gaping hole in the ship’s port side, as well as leaving 17 sailors dead and many others injured.
I heard about it that evening on the news, but I didn’t think a whole lot about it except, “Those poor sailors’ families.” My husband Rich (who was still just my boyfriend at the time) was working at Naval Station Norfolk and was called to the building where they were gathering families of the sailors on the Cole. I headed home from college that night for the weekend and watched the news like everyone else. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to names, if they were even mentioned at that time. When Rich came home that night, he was exhausted — physically and emotionally. He had really been called to help set up reception and help families find out information — a so-called runner. He said that there were over 100 grief counselors there to help people cope. It was unreal for him to think that it could have been him or anyone else he knew. I had never seen him so distraught. He didn’t say much that weekend.
It wasn’t until that Saturday — October 14 — that the effects of the attack truly hit me. I was looking on the front page of The Virginian Pilot, the local newspaper for Hampton Roads, and saw the pictures and names of the sailors who were killed. I froze…when I realized that I recognized one of them.
Signalman Seaman Apprentice Cherone L. Gunn was 22 years old when a senseless act ended his life and the lives of sixteen other sailors. He had graduated from Kempsville High School in 1997 — only a year before me. His younger twin brothers, Jason and Jamal (or the “Gunn twins” as they were known), had been in my graduating class. I didn’t know Cherone personally, but I remembered seeing him in the halls and around the school office. I had gym at the same time as one of the twins during sophomore year, but I don’t remember which one. I knew in high school that Cherone was their brother — you could just tell. They all had the same bright smile and demeanor. I didn’t know their oldest brother, Anton, but if he is anything like his brothers I am sure I would like him, too. But I digress.
As soon as I saw Cherone’s picture in the paper, I started to cry. I couldn’t control the tears. No, I didn’t know him personally, but I was thinking about Jamal and Jason. “Mom,” I said in between sobs, “Cherone is the Gunn twins’ brother.” High school was a little rough for me, and I knew the Gunn twins as a couple of nice guys who were kind to me when other people were not. So when I found out that their brother was one of the sailors who lost his life, my heart went out to them. Now, they were the ones who needed kindness.
Cherone was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on October 20, 2000. Rightfully so, he is buried along with other heroes who served America and others who were killed in the line of duty.
This year marks the sixth anniversary of the attack on the now healed USS Cole, and the sixth anniversary of the loss of seventeen men and women who died serving their country. On a more personal note, to the Gunn family I would just like to say that you were all in my prayers then and you continue to be now. Although your beloved Cherone is no longer with you physically, he is always with you in spirit.
To those of you who didn’t know Cherone Gunn, “Google” his name — you will find out a lot about this amazing sailor who did so much before his life was taken too soon.
Readers, remember the USS Cole today and every October 12.
*This article is dedicated to the memory of Cherone Louis Gunn and to the surviving members of his family.*