Families welcome injured USS Cole survivors home

NORFOLK, Va. - Thirty-three sailors injured in the deadly explosion that ripped through the hull of the USS Cole, killing 17 crew members, arrived on U.S. soil Sunday to the cheers of hundreds of family members and sailors lining the tarmac at Norfolk Naval Station.

Banners hanging from the base's control tower read: ''Our heroes'' and ''We join hands and hearts to welcome you home.''

With the Atlantic Fleet band playing, the first of the injured sailors walked down the ramp of the military transport plane, followed by others limping slowly with the help of canes, crutches and the arms of their colleagues. At least seven had to be carried off on stretchers.

Crying family members and children waving small U.S. flags surrounded the sailors in group hugs, reluctant to let go as they were moved toward buses and ambulances for the wounded to be taken to Portsmouth Naval Hospital.

''We have 33 very tired, very hungry but very happy sailors,'' said Capt. Martin Snyder, a senior attending physician treating the crew. All 30 men and three women were to be hospitalized at least overnight.

Since Thursday, when a suspected terrorist bomb blew a 40-by-40 foot hole in the side of the destroyer during a refueling stop on the Arabian Peninsula, the injured crew members' families had been gathering at the home of the Atlantic Fleet for regular briefings and the support of chaplains and counselors, said Cmdr. Denny Moynihan, a Navy spokesman.

About 1,500 sailors in dress white uniforms were on the tarmac with 200 relatives of the injured when the plane arrived on Sunday.

Chandra Benoit of Norfolk, whose husband Kevin was still aboard the Cole, joined the crowd with her infant daughter, Kyra, to welcome his injured crewmates home. She said she had spoken with her husband briefly by phone.

''We didn't talk about what happened,'' she said. ''He just asked me about the baby. ... I'm just waiting for him to come home.''

Lt. Cmdr. Jim Mensching, an emergency medicine physician at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, said the Cole sailors' injuries ranged from broken ribs and collapsed lungs to multiple fractures and facial burns.

One of the injured, a crewman with a fractured ankle, underwent immediate surgery because doctors feared his wound was infected.

Snyder said 21 of the sailors were assigned to general surgery, six were to be treated for head and neck injuries, four would receive orthopedic treatment and two who were close to the explosion but did not have physical injuries were assigned to psychiatric treatment.

Some will likely be released Monday, and all will undergo a psychological debriefing, he said.

Six other injured crew members remained hospitalized in Germany at the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. The most seriously injured, a man in his 20s, was suffering from multiple fractures in his legs, ankles, feet and wrists, as well as abdominal injuries, doctors said.

''We hope he will recover from his wounds, but he has been extremely injured and anything can happen with this type of extensive injuries,'' said Thomas Burkhard, a senior Navy doctor at Landstuhl.

Sunday morning, one of the 17 killed in the Cole explosion, Seaman Recruit Cherone Gunn, was remembered during a memorial service at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, the same church where he was christened 22 years earlier.

Gunn's parents, fiancee and three brothers were joined by members of the congregation, who provided hugs and offers of assistance.

Louge Gunn, a retired chief with the Navy, stressed the pride he felt for his son, who enlisted in the Navy in January.

''He was a hero,'' Louge Gunn said. ''He gave his life for his country, for something that he loved - the Navy. He was a sailor, a true sailor. His life was fulfilled.''

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