Timothy Lee Gauna was born on 12 November 1978 in Dallas, Texas, to Sarah Gauna. He graduated from Ennis High School in Ennis, Texas, in 1997, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 19 February 1999.

Gauna completed Basic Training in Great Lakes, Illinois, on 29 April 1999. He was then a student at Surface Warfare Enlisted Schools Command, also at Great Lakes. He reported to USS Cole (DDG-67) on 12 August 1999.

Gauna was killed in the line of duty when a terrorist bomb was detonated along the port side of the ship while it was refueling in Aden, Yemen, on 12 October 2000.

Information Systems Technician Seaman Gauna was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, and Navy Unit Commendation. He held the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Sources: USS Cole (DDG-67) Med Cruise 2000 (August 8–November 3, 2000) Cruise Book in the collection of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Navy Department Library. Awards and citations are sourced from the service member’s official military personnel file and listed in the Navy Department Awards Web Service site and may not be complete.

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/ships/modern-ships/uss-cole/cole-in-memoriam.html#gauna


TIMOTHY LEE GAUNA

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