Front Burner: Al Qaeda's Attack on the USS Cole [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

As new condition dark gray boards with red spine lettering contained in a fine condition non price-clipped color photographic dust jacket. Includes Author Dedication; Acknowledgments; Damage to the USS Cole; USS Cole: Killed in Action; USS Cole: Wounded in Action; Introduction: Nightmare; Epilogue; Appendix: Threat Condition Measures; Notes; Index and About the Author. Illustrated with a section of black-and-white photographic plates and black-and-white drawing. A 1/2 inch repaired closed tear at the upper rear jacket edge; the dust jacket is otherwise in as new condition (see photographs). "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." - from the inner front jacket flap. "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." - William J. Perry, nineteenth secretary of defense. "The story of the USS Cole - including why the ship was in Yemen in the first place, the lack of support from Washington that the sailors and the investigators received, how the attack inspired al Qaeda, and the connections to 9/11 - is one that all American need to hear. The professionalism, quiet dignity, and dedication to our country that Commander Lippold and his sailors exhibited is an inspiration to us all, and a reminder of the very best America has to offer." - Ali Soufan, author. "A year before 9/11, a bomb-laden motorboat exploded alongside the USS Cole, killing seventeen Americas in the worst terrorist attack in nearly two decades. It is a story that has remained untold and nearly forgotten for too long. Now, Front Burner reveals how the captain's leadership and the crew's courage saved the Cole to sail another day." - Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission and author.…