Hosting Two Sailors from the USS Cole

When the USS Cole was in Port I had the high honor of hosting two of the sailors while they were in town. After we left the party at the Briny Pub my son and I took them to dinner at Morton’s. The next day we toured the ship at their invitation and then we took them all around town in a Mercedes Custom Limo. Neither had ever even been in a Limo. We took them to malls and The Hard Rock and some local attractions and then to dinner at Capitol Grill. I subsequently wrote to Cmd Ehlers, Captain of the Cole to congratulate him on what two very fine young men were in his crew. He wrote me back and was pleased and told me he had spoken to both of them for thirty minutes about their liberty here. They told him it was the best Port liberty either one had ever had. One of my sons joined the Navy in May and that is what pushed me toward the event and now your organization. We need to do more for these Sailors. They are fine men and women and they work hard under sometimes harsh conditions to protect us all. I had the two Sailors send me their dress blue picture and had the art department in my Agency paint them onto the ship. I sent the photos to them and to Cmd Ehlers. The Commander loved it and both guys have the picture on their Facebook pages. The photo is attached. I am looking forward to working with your organization to help the Navy.