Bridge to honor victims of USS Cole

October 14, 2004|by TAMELA BAKER

The Maryland Department of Transportation plans to dedicate the bridge at Interstate 81 and Halfway Boulevard to two Washington County men killed four years ago in the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.

Fireman Apprentice Patrick Roy of Keedysville and Seaman Craig Wibberley of Williamsport died in the attack. Both were serving in the U.S. Navy, and both were 19.

The State Highway Administration plans to place plaques on the bridge on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, according to Sen. Donald F. Munson, R-Washington/Allegany.

On behalf of the Washington County Commissioners and the county delegation to the General Assembly, Munson asked the Maryland Transportation Commission to dedicate the bridge to Roy and Wibberley because he believed both sailors were heroes, he said.

"To my knowledge, they're the first victims of terror from Washington County," Munson said.

The Navy destroyer was refueling in the port of Aden in Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000, when suicide bombers aboard an explosive-laden boat rammed the vessel in the side. Seventeen American sailors died in the attack, which has been attributed to al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization also blamed for the airplane hijackings that resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001.

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