USS Cole

Commissioned in 1996, the Cole honors Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, who died at Iwo Jima in 1945 single-handedly assaulting three Japanese gun emplacements with grenades to clear the way for his platoon—earning the Medal of Honor posthumously. On October 12, 2000, the Cole gained a different kind of renown when she survived a devastating al-Qaeda suicide boat attack in Aden harbor that killed 17 sailors and nearly sank her. Her crew kept her afloat. She came home. She is still on watch.