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WASHINGTON-It was just before lunch on Oct. 12, 2000, when a suicide bomber slammed the side of the USS Cole off the Coast of Yemen, and in the minds of those who were there, it was the beginning of the War on Terror."The biggest thing people fail to realize is they look at 9/11 as the start on the War on Terror," said Kirk Lippold, former commander of the Cole. "The reality is that the war on terrorism started not on 9/11, but 10/12."Now retired from the Navy, Lippold rarely talks about the day when he lost 17 sailors, but he spoke exclusively with FOX News about those dark moments after the attack."At 11:18, there was a thunderous explosion. You could feel that entire 8,400 tons of ship violently thrust up and to the right. It seemed to hang in the air for a second before coming back into the water. We rocked from side to side and surged forward and backward into the pier," he said."All the lights went out, ceiling tiles came down, emergency lighting came on. I immediately got up and had to grab my desk to stop from getting knocked over and when I could finally stand, when the ship stopped moving, I went to the door of my cabin. There were several people running around, then it was dead quiet and there was a wave of smoke and dust that washed over me."Lippold moved quickly to assess the damage and find his men. "When I got there, I was stunned at the devastation. The best way to describe it would be that it was like someone had taken their fist and literally punched a 40-foot hole all the way in the side of the ship…all the way through, shoving everything out of its way until it came out the starboard side."Even eight years after the attack, out of respect for the families, Lippold will only describe in general terms what he saw. "I don't want to get into specifics, but the force of an explosion like that does terrible things to a human body."The average age of the dead was just 19. Nearly all of the sailors were killed instantly, but Lippold told FOX News that offers no consolation...By Catherine Herridge
As in the days of Noah...
