USS COLE BERTHS IN PHILADELPHIA IN HONOR OF LET FREEDOM RING™
Navy Missile Destroyer And Sailors To Spend Fourth Of July Weekend In Cradle Of Liberty

PHILADELPHIA, June 23, 2005 – The USS Cole, a United Sates Navy guided missile destroyer just back from the 33^rd annual maritime exercise Baltic Operations, is preparing for a Fourth of July weekend trip to Philadelphia, giving visitors to America’s birthplace yet one more way to enjoy the four-day holiday. In town for the city’s annual Let Freedom Ring™ ceremony on Independence Day at Independence Hall, the USS Cole, a ship steeped in tradition and tempered in the fire of battle, will arrive in town on June 30 so that Commander Brian Solo and approximately 365 crew members can prepare for public tours, taking place on July 1 and 2 from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

The Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, sponsors of Let Freedom Ring™ since 1969, will host a welcome celebration for the ship at the Market Street berth of Penn’s Landing, along the Delaware River. Participating in the event will be the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders, the Ferko String Band and the Pennsylvania Girl Choir. Black Hawk helicopters will perform a dramatic flyover, while Philadelphia fireboats and the Coast Guard escort the Cole. In addition, the retired Battleship New Jersey, which sits on the Camden, New Jersey side of the Delaware River, will offer a gun salute to the visiting ship. 

For information about travel to Philadelphia during the Fourth of July weekend, visit www.gophila.com/julyfourth. For information about Let Freedom Ring™, visit www.let-freedom-ring.org.

# # #

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) builds the region’s economy and image through destination marketing to increase the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county region. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676

2005
 

Back to News Release List