Ceremony honors 17 who perished aboard USS Cole.

Byline: Charles Ornstein

NORFOLK, Va. _ Beneath a hazy sky and dark clouds, World War II veteran Frank Chebetar came to Pier 12 Wednesday at the Norfolk Naval Station to bid farewell to 17 members of his extended naval family.

He didn't know the sailors who died last Thursday in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole while it docked in Aden, Yemen. But as a veteran who was stationed at Pearl Harbor the fateful day it was bombed in 1941, Chebetar says he can relate to the horror experienced by the sailors aboard the USS Cole last Thursday.

"It has been very emotional," said Chebetar, 80, who spent 20 years in the Navy. "Today reminds me of December 7, because we got hit just like they did."

A somber crowd of more than 2,000 military personnel, retirees and their families said their goodbyes and prayers for the 17 Cole sailors who died, 39 who were injured and 240 others who fought to keep their ship afloat.

Nine sailors have been confirmed dead and another eight _ including three Texans _ are missing and presumed dead. "We know we will never know them as you did, or remember them as you will _ the first time you saw them in uniform, or the last time you said goodbye," an emotional President Clinton said. "They all had their own stories and their own dreams."

The president, who…