Clinton, Navy honor fallen Cole sailors

WEB EXCLUSIVE On the scene with CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon On the scene with CNN's Mark Potter in Portsmouth, Virginia

Memorial service today in Norfolk, Virginia

In this story: Injured sailors to attend FBI chief going to Yemen RELATED STORIES, SITES

CNN Correspondents Mark Potter, Carl Rochelle, Kathleen Koch and Charles Zewe contributed to this report, written by CNN.com Senior Writer Jim Morris.

NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Virginia (CNN) -- President Clinton and the families of the victims of last week's bomb attack on the USS Cole joined thousands of Naval personnel today at Norfolk Naval Air Station in Virginia to honor the 17 sailors killed in the bomb blast.

In his remarks at a memorial service, Clinton read off the names of the 17 sailors who died while their colleagues and family wiped away tears.

"Today we honor our finest young people, fallen soldiers. We mourn their loss, celebrate their lives," the president said. "Their tragic loss reminds us that even when America is not at war, the men and women who serve risk their lives."

The crippled destroyer, stable but listing from a large gash in its side after last week's suspected suicide bombing in Yemen, remained in Aden harbor, where divers continued their search for six bodies still trapped in the twisted wreckage.

Although U.S. officials say the United States and Yemen have made progress in their investigation into the October 12 bombing, they decline to elaborate.

GALLERY USS Cole wounded return home    VIDEO CNN's Charles Zewe looks at how the families are coping with their losses Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) The parents of missing sailor Kenneth Clodfelter haven't given up hope Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     INTERACTIVE See a 3-dimensional image of the USS Cole Get the plugin Leaders' reactions to the attack on the USS Cole Animation of a transport ship conducting a recovery procedure at sea     INFORMATION Information for families of sailors serving on the USS Cole: 1-800-368-3202 For updated Naval press releases involving the USS Cole, click here Click here for facts about the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer     MESSAGE BOARD USS Cole attack

U.S. law enforcement sources in Washington would say only that bomb-making materials had been found at an apartment in Yemen. The sources also said unspecified materials removed from the Cole and brought to Washington are being analyzed by FBI scientists.

Yemeni authorities have questioned and detained members of Islamic militant groups Tuesday in their investigation.

Norfolk, the Cole's home port, is headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

The setting for Wednesday's service is the Naval Station's Pier 12, one of the long stretches of steel and concrete where massive Navy aircraft carriers tie up when in port.

The carrier Eisenhower is now docked there. Nearby are two of the Cole's sister ships, the destroyers USS Ross and USS McFaul.

Among the military leaders to be joining Clinton at the memorial service are Defense Secretary William Cohen, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig and Army Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Before the president addresses thousands of mourners at the naval base he is to meet privately with victims' families and some of the 39 sailors injured in the blast.

Most of the survivors are on convalescent leave after being released from the nearby Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Eight sailors are still hospitalized there, including four who arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday

Seven of them are well enough to attend the memorial service, even though some must be hooked to IVs for pain medication, said Capt. Martin Snyder, senior attending physician.

The eighth, who had surgery for a broken leg, must remain hospitalized.

Two other injured sailors remain in Germany undergoing medical treatment.

In Yemen, their crewmates still aboard the Cole in Yemen won't be able to view the memorial on TV "primarily because they're working hard 24 hours a day to keep the ship afloat," said U.S. Atlantic Fleet Commander-in-Chief Adm. R.J. Natter.

Of the 17 sailors killed in the bombing as the destroyer began a refueling stop in Aden, 11 bodies have been recovered with another six still missing. Plans are under way to return to the United States the remains of six sailors whose bodies were removed from the wreckage on Tuesday.

Another memorial service will also be held on Wednesday at the U.S. Naval Base in San Diego, California.

The blast blew open a 40-by-40-foot hole in the midsection of the ship at the waterline, destroying an engine room and nearby mess area where sailors were eating lunch.

U.S. Navy officials have said a small boat in a group helping to moor the Cole for refueling had been laden with explosives and blew up alongside the ship, one of the world's most sophisticated guided missile destroyers.

Witnesses described two men aboard the boat standing to attention just before it exploded.

Clinton has promised to track down and punish the "hate-filled cowards" behind the attack.

FBI Director Louis Freeh will go to Yemen to oversee a joint FBI-Yemeni team hunting for clues. So far, the investigation has made good progress, according to Samuel Berger, the White House national security adviser.

"We are receiving extraordinary cooperation from the government of Yemen," he told CNN. "They are not just letting us investigate. They are investigating with us in a vigorous way. That has produced a number of significant developments."

Yemeni authorities rounded up large numbers of people for questioning about the attack, but neither U.S. nor Yemeni officials would provide specifics of who was in custody.

Cohen plans to appoint two retired senior military officers to head an independent investigation of the bombing, with special focus on whether there were security lapses, a senior defense official said.

The Navy has signed a $4.5 million contract with the Norwegian owners of the heavy-lift ship Blue Marlin to carry the Cole back to a U.S. port after the FBI finishes its investigation aboard ship.

The Blue Marlin, currently in port in Dubai on the Persian Gulf, will head for Aden on Thursday, and is expected to arrive four or five days later. About a week after that it will begin hauling the Cole back to the United States, the Navy said.

Several U.S. warships have been sent to Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, to support the salvage and investigation operation, code-named Determined Response. They will also provide extra security by ensuring personnel can live on board ship rather than on land.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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