New London — After touring the USS Cole for more than two hours Friday, Don Richard felt like he’d come full circle.

He and his wife Suzanne had attended the guided-missile destroyer’s commissioning at Port Everglades, Fla., in June 1996, when their son, Jeffrey, then an eager ensign, joined the ship’s first crew. That made Jeffrey a Cole “plankowner,” earning him and his family certain privileges.

For one thing, it turns out, they get to take tours of the Cole that include spaces the public rarely sees and where photographs are strictly forbidden.

“The Navy really values it,” Don Richard said of the plankowner designation. “You don’t otherwise get on the bridge or in the CIC (Combat Information Center). That was like being on a movie set.”

The Richards traveled to southeastern Connecticut earlier in the week from their home in Williamsport, Pa., to visit the Cole, considered the main attraction at this year’s Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival, which began Friday and continues through Sunday. They learned the Cole would be participating when their daughter, Laura Stack of Southington, spotted it on the festival’s Facebook page.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Stack, Jeffrey's younger sister, said. “I knew right away I’d be coming with my husband and children. I was hopeful my parents would be able to come, too.”

Indeed, Stack, her husband, Chris Stack, and their daughters, Charlotte, 12, and Maggie, 10, all joined her parents in touring the Cole.

Don Richard said his son, now Cmdr. Jeffrey Richard, 45, who’s stationed in Norfolk, Va., the Cole’s homeport, might have been able to come, too, had he not been on standby because of Hurricane Irma.

The family has a “big connection” to the Cole, he said, a link strengthened by the tragedy that befell the ship on Oct. 12, 2000, which was after Jeffrey had moved on to other assignments. On that date, suicide bombers maneuvered a small boat alongside the Cole, which was anchored for refueling at a Yemeni port, and set off an explosion that blew a hole in the ship’s port side, killing 17 crew members and injuring 39 more.

Don recalled being shocked by news reports of the bombing, which was soon linked to al Qaeda — a rehearsal for 9/11, which would occur less than a year later. His son was shocked, too, he said.

“Getting assigned to the Cole was a big deal for him,” he said. “While he was serving, he got his surface warfare designation, which qualified him to drive the ship — basically, to take a turn on the bridge, to call battle stations.”

When the attack occurred, his son got in touch with the Navy to find out who was in the Cole's crew. Some of them were people he knew.

“That spurred him to stay on in the Navy. It was a tipping point for him,” Don Richard said. 

Chief Petty Officer J.G. Heidenheimer, who led the Richards and the Stacks on the tour, said he was honored to serve on the Cole, which recently returned from a seven-month deployment in the Red Sea.

The Cole’s repaired hull shows no signs of the 2000 attack.

Inside the heavily armed ship, the names of the 17 sailors who died are memorialized on a “Hall of Heroes” plaque and on individual plaques mounted throughout the ship, including several on the bridge, where the captain steers.

Seaman Recruit Craig B. Wibberley of Maryland was 19 when he died.

“Craig liked the military but didn’t care for his Basic Training experience,” his plaque says.

Another seaman recruit, Lakiba Palmer, who was working as a food service attendant when the blast tore through the mess deck, was 22 and left a daughter among her survivors. Her plaque says, “Lakiba longed for a military career because it promised stability and security.” She was from San Diego, Calif.

A letter written on lined paper in a youngster’s hand is stuck to a wall in one of the ship’s narrow corridors. “Dear Sailor,” it reads. “Honestly, I’m pretty impressed about how committed you are to serving your country.”

Tours of the Cole, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay and other vessels participating in the maritime festival will continue Saturday and Sunday. A ticketing system aimed at alleviating long lines will be employed, if necessary, organizers said. The system was not used Friday.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com