Front Burner: Al Qaeda's Attack on the USS Cole - Hardcover

Lippold, Kirk

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610391241 ISBN 13: 9781610391245

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2012

Synopsis

On October 12, 2000, eleven months before the 9/11 attacks, the USS Cole docked in the port of Aden in Yemen for a routine fueling stop.  At 1118, on a hot, sunny morning, the 8,400-ton destroyer was rocked by an enormous explosion. The ship’s commander, Kirk Lippold, felt the ship violently thrust up and to the right, as everything not bolted down seemed to float in midair. Tiles tumbled from the ceiling, and the ship was plunged into darkness, beginning to sink. In a matter of moments Lippold knew that the Cole had been attacked. What he didn’t know was how much the world was changing around him. The bombing of the Cole was al Qaeda’s first direct assault against the United States and expanded their brazen and deadly string of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. In this gripping first-person narrative, Lippold reveals the details of this harrowing experience leading his crew of valiant sailors through the attack and its aftermath. Seventeen sailors died in the explosion and thirty-seven were wounded—but thanks to the valor of the crew in the perilous days that followed, the ship was saved. Yet even with al Qaeda’s intentions made clear in an unmistakable act of war, the United States government delayed retaliating. Bureaucrats and politicians sought to shift and pin blame as they ignored the danger signaled by the attack, shirking responsibility until the event was ultimately overshadowed by 9/11. Front Burner captures a critical moment in America’s battle against al Qaeda, telling a vital story that has—until now—been lost in the fog of the war on terror.

About this title

About the Author:

Commander Kirk Lippold was the commanding officer of the USS Cole during Al Qaeda's attack in October 2000. Lippold's personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon, among others. He retired from the Navy in 2007 and remains active in current events and national security affairs. He lives in Carson City, Nevada.

Review:

William J. Perry, 19th Secretary of Defense

"Front Burner is a personal story of loss, and pain - but it is also a story of courage, determination, respect, honor, and integrity that each and every man and woman on the USS Cole demonstrated that day, on September 11, 2001 and indeed today. This book and the story of the men and women that it recounts is an inspiration.”

Kirkus Reviews
Lippold delivers a personal, opinionated account of the last outrage before 9/11 which should have galvanized our leaders but didn't.”

Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

Compelling and poignant [Lippold] ends his main narrative on a high note, writing, The crew of USS Cole saved their ship and their shipmates. All of them are my heroes.' Reading this book or passing the somber Cole memorial at Norfolk Naval Station, one can feel only that they are our heroes as well.”

Huntington News
"Front Burner" is an important work of military history and stands as an essential recounting of a critical moment in America's battle against Al Qaeda.”
 

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1610391241
• ISBN 13: 9781610391245
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 408