Not all Attended the Meeting with President Obama

The family of Fireman Gary G. Swenchonis, Jr., who was one othe 17 Navy officers that lost their lives in the USS Cole bombing in Yemen did not attend the meeting with president Obama.

Gary Swenchonis Sr writes on his blog, " Why attend a meeting when you already know the inevitable outcome. And President Obama has already signed the order to close Gitmo, and a request to stop the trials. Which they did. With only one judge who had the strength, courage and conviction to stand up for the murdered sailors and say that al-nashiri's arraignment would go forward. So anyway I asked the aide if he would please get my letter to Obama instead. He said he would if I faxed it. I had wrote Obama a letter the previous week pleading with him to change his mind. I faxed the letter later that same day. I knew that I would have to tell my wife later on when we got home that our murdered son's trail had become a victim of petty politics. And that she would be upset and hurt yet again". This brave father's blog is, Terrorism: Politicians and Victims

As reported by FoxNews, "Kenneth Clodfelter, a 21-year-old with a young wife and child, was another sailor who lost his life on 10/12/2000. Clodfelter's mother, Gloria, says that when her son had been born -- a day after Christmas -- the family saw him as a gift from God to ease their loss after one of their children died in a freak accident. "He was my Christmas baby. He was our gift from God for Christmas and for our family."

It was Clodfelter who took the brunt of the blast in the Cole's hull, his parents said. With the force of the blast, "he became a part of the ship. That's the way they (the Navy) explained it to us," Gloria told FOX News.Cole Case

Former USS Cole Commander Lippold said, "The biggest thing people fail to realize is they look at 9/11 as the start on the War on Terror," said Kirk Lippold, former commander of the Cole. "The reality is that the war on terrorism started not on 9/11, but 10/12."

Now retired from the Navy, Lippold spoke exclusively with FOX News about those dark moments after the attack.

• Click here to see an exclusive interview with Commander Lippold.