RICHMOND- Governor Bob McDonnell issued the following statement today on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. The USS Cole was based out of Naval Station Norfolk.
The brave Americans we lost are memorialized at the USS Cole memorial in Norfolk. The Virginia Wall of Honor in Richmond, dedicated to Virginians who have lost their lives defending our nation in the Global War on Terror, is etched with the names of the several Virginians who perished aboard the ship. I have had the opportunity to meet some of their families. Their loss will never go away. Neither will our love for them, and our commitment to finding and destroying the evil forces who perpetrated this cowardly act.
Today, Virginians continue to serve worldwide in the Global War on Terror. They defend the eternal principles of liberty, freedom and equality for all that this nation was built upon and stands for. The terrorists who targeted the USS Cole hate that liberty, despise that freedom, and reject that equality. As a nation we cannot rest until those terrorists are no more. Freedom is not free. On this 10th anniversary of the suicide bombing of the USS Cole we resolve to never forget those we lost, and to always remember those who serve."