USS Cole commander became ‘collector’ of the attack’s history

CANFIELD — The suicide bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 by al Qaeda forces was something the ship’s Cmdr. Kirk Lippold said he wasn’t eager to remember — though many urged him to write his own account shortly after the attack.

“I was no more ready to relive that event on paper or talk about it than fly to the moon,” he told Mahoning Matters Wednesday.

But after seven years spent as “the collector” of numerous personal, candid accounts from the crew under him who endeavored to save the sinking warship following “one of the most brazen acts of terrorism” prior to Sept. 11, Lippold released “Front Burner: Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole” in 2012.

The book tells the historical tale but from each man’s perspective, including his.

“It was to capture the heroism of my crew in saving that ship and saving their shipmates; to honor the 17 sailors killed and 37 wounded and make sure that I can document for the American people the history of that attack and its aftermath on us,” he said. “Every other member of the crew has their unique story. … I kind of became ‘the collector.’ I gathered information, I gathered interviews, I talked to people.”

Lippold, who since retirement has offered analysis on foreign policy and the military and appeared as a consultant on FOX, CNN and CNBC, shared his views on national security during a presentation Wednesday at Canfield Public Library.

The presentation was arranged by Canfield Mayor Richard Duffet, a 1981 classmate of Kirk at the U.S. Naval Academy, and co-sponsored by the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County.

“The main thing I wanted to make sure that I conveyed to the citizens of Canfield and the surrounding areas was while national security is typically in the background of most of their lives on a daily basis, it really affects everything they do,” he told Mahoning Matters. “Because if you don’t have national security, you don’t have a secure nation.

“The example I use is on the morning of 9/11, how much did you care about your stock portfolio or your retirement plan? You didn’t. You had two questions on your mind that morning as you watched the horror unfolding on TV: ‘Is your family safe? Is your nation safe?’”

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 4:54 AM with the headline "USS Cole commander became ‘collector’ of the attack’s history."