Hometown: Fond du Lac, WI
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit: USS Cole (DDG-67)
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: October 12, 2000 - KIA in Aden, Yemen
Age: 24
Conflict: No declared conflict

Marc Nieto was born on July 25, 1976, in Champaign, Illinois, and moved with his family to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he attended Goodrich High School. According to his mother, he fell behind in school and was unsure about what he wanted to do with his life after graduation. He wanted to go to college, but the cost was out of reach for the family.

He loved repairing machinery and spent his free time restoring a 1980 Chevy Camaro. When a military recruiter visited his high school, Nieto learned that you could sign on to be an Engineman in the Navy. He also saw the Navy as an opportunity to pay for college after his service.

In November 1994, Nieto made the 70-mile trip south to Milwaukee and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. A month later, he was assigned to his first choice of schools: Naval Station Great Lakes, located in northern Illinois—just a two-hour drive from home—to be trained as an Engineman.

According to Nieto’s mother, Sharon Priepke, “That was great because he could come home almost every weekend unless he had duty. He would bring all his buddies home, and I would cook for them and we’d have a great time. They were very respectful and would always throw money on the table for groceries for all the food I would cook. They always came home hungry.”

After completing Basic Training, Nieto stayed at Great Lakes for training at Surface Warfare Enlisted Schools Command, completing the program on July 5, 1995. He was sent to San Diego, California for pre-commissioning training, then to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where he was assigned to the USS Cole (DDG-67).

The Cole was a brand new guided-missile destroyer, launched on January 10, 1995, and commissioned on June 8, 1996 at Port Everglades, Florida. The ship would be based out of Norfolk, Virginia.

In his six years aboard the Cole, Nieto’s assignments included duties as an Engine Room Operator, responsible for three gas turbine engines and all the equipment that controls them. On his second tour, EN2 Nieto was tasked with overseeing the air-conditioning and reverse-osmosis water purification systems.

Shipmates respected Nieto for his resolve and determination and credit his sense of humor for breaking up the monotony and confinement of long tours at sea.

While on the Cole, Nieto met shipmate Jaimie DeGuzman. The two were together for about a year, and other shipmates remarked that they had kept things professional aboard the Cole, to the point that their relationship had been “virtually undetectable.” While in Malta in August of 2000, Nieto proposed marriage and the couple began planning their future. Marc would complete his Navy service in October and planned on a job with GE installing generators around the world. The two would marry after Jamie completed her Navy service.

On the morning of October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was on a brief refueling stop in Aden Harbor, Yemen, when a small boat pulled along the port side of the ship. Al-Qaeda suicide terrorists detonated the explosives-laden boat. The blast tore a 40 by 60-foot hole in the Cole’s hull, killing 17 sailors and wounding 37 more.

Engineman Second Class Marc Nieto and four other crew members in Engine Room 1 were killed instantly. Nieto was 24 years old, and just two weeks away from finishing his Navy service.

For sixteen months the Cole underwent $250 million in extensive repairs, returning to the fleet at Norfolk and to full active duty.

The family scattered some of Marc Nieto’s ashes in his hometown of Fond du Lac’s Lake Winnebago. Some were spread at the base of a magnolia tree planted in honor of the lost crew members. The rest of his remains were buried at sea from the deck of the restored USS Cole. A marker in his memory can be found at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., Section F.

Exactly one year after the attack, the USS Cole Memorial was dedicated at Naval Station Norfolk to remember those who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to their country.

To honor her son, Nieto’s mother had Marc’s 1980 Camaro fully restored. She brought it to Norfolk to show his Navy buddies. The car is displayed as a tribute at auto shows nationwide.

Sources
Card photo: U.S. Navy, VIRIN: 200928-N-N0701-0007
Wisconsin Veterans Museum: Remembering the USS Cole (DDG 67) 20th Anniversary—Remembering Our Wisconsin Sailor
Wisconsin Veterans Museum: USS Cole Bombing: The Road to 9/11
Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic: Cole Heroes—Marc Ian Nieto
Naval History and Heritage Command: USS Cole (DDG-67)
Naval History and Heritage Command: USS Cole In Memoriam—Honoring Those Lost, Marc I. Nieto
Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, November 17, 2000: Marc Ian Nieto
AP News: Ashes to Be Scattered From USS Cole
Burial Site: Find a Grave