40 years ago - USS Liberty - Remember the 35?
http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/
I was out of town for Memorial Day, so today went to the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial near La Jolla, Calif., to pay respects at the site. There are a couple hundred unique plaques honoring individuals, as well as whole squads, ships, etc. I had a plaque made a couple of years ago in memorial for my dad, a WWII Army veteran. Today I wondered around and looked at some of the newer plaques, and found one for the USS Liberty - in memorial to the 35 sailors killed, 172 wounded on June 8, 1967. My question - how growing up in a Navy town like San Diego, where half my classmates had fathers in the Navy.The USS Pueblo incident a year later was very much covered in the news and talk around town. I don't have a political or social agenda here, just pure curiosity. My heart still goes out to the survivors and family of that ship. The link has details, but basic facts seem to be that almost 40 years ago to the day, Israeli jets and torpedo boats pounded with impunity a defenseless US intelligence ship in international waters - and no one has ever answered for it. President Johnson himself called back US jets sent to help - didn't want to "embarass an ally". Granted this was a few years ago, but didn't I hear someone say "less we never forget ..." in regard to war crimes? Strafing unarmed sailors on deck aiding injured crew - must be selective memory? I'll root for the underdog everytime and have strong beliefs about old and new testament prophecies, but reading the story behind the Liberty plaque just now made me cringe - and want to "remember" the fallen even if I am a week late for Memorial Day.[8D]
I was out of town for Memorial Day, so today went to the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial near La Jolla, Calif., to pay respects at the site. There are a couple hundred unique plaques honoring individuals, as well as whole squads, ships, etc. I had a plaque made a couple of years ago in memorial for my dad, a WWII Army veteran. Today I wondered around and looked at some of the newer plaques, and found one for the USS Liberty - in memorial to the 35 sailors killed, 172 wounded on June 8, 1967. My question - how growing up in a Navy town like San Diego, where half my classmates had fathers in the Navy.The USS Pueblo incident a year later was very much covered in the news and talk around town. I don't have a political or social agenda here, just pure curiosity. My heart still goes out to the survivors and family of that ship. The link has details, but basic facts seem to be that almost 40 years ago to the day, Israeli jets and torpedo boats pounded with impunity a defenseless US intelligence ship in international waters - and no one has ever answered for it. President Johnson himself called back US jets sent to help - didn't want to "embarass an ally". Granted this was a few years ago, but didn't I hear someone say "less we never forget ..." in regard to war crimes? Strafing unarmed sailors on deck aiding injured crew - must be selective memory? I'll root for the underdog everytime and have strong beliefs about old and new testament prophecies, but reading the story behind the Liberty plaque just now made me cringe - and want to "remember" the fallen even if I am a week late for Memorial Day.[8D]
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Even if someone was daft enough to believe they really thought it was an Egyptian ship like they claim that wouldn't explain why they shot up the life rafts.
To get the whole story just do an online search.0 -
Hhhhhmmmm. This requires furhter investigation. As young as I am (40), seems that I have heard this story before. 0 -
I, too, am curious to know more. On the surface, it is a difficult thing to deal with politically, since I have always looked on Israel as the "good guys" ... outnumbered, outgunned, surrounded by fanatics hell-bent on their destruction, but they always manage to kick ass anyway and preserve their precious way of life... in short, the way we Americans used to always see ourselves. So, like you, I don't have a political agenda in trying to dig up dirt on the Israelis... however... something's rotten for sure here.
If the Liberty "incident" was just a case of mistaken identity, it would have been one thing... but too many details just don't add up. Without checking the link.. in addition to the above mentioned facts that sailors were straffed on deck of a ship that hadn't been returning fire, as well as lifeboats being straffed, and Johnson recalling jets sent to defend the ship.. I remember something about the attack lasting for several hours.
There was something else going on behind the scenes, and I would be curious to know what it was.
And of course, back to the original intent of the post ... yes, I wholeheartedly agree, we need to remember and honor those crewmen... whether pawns in some intricate game of international politics, or victims of a tragic mistake, they chose a profession in which they put their lives on the line to defend our freedom and preserve our cherished way of life... they paid the ultimate price just as the soldiers who died wading ashore at Normandy ... and they deserve our respect.0 -
Zap, you've answered your own question. On the surface, Israel said "mistaken identity". True? Who knows. The US accepted it, and that's that. You also said "spy ship". True? Who knows. If so, and there's a war going on, possible that Israel was trying to "blind" the US? Who knows. 0 -
memorials are to remember the brave and the lesson, not to remember the mistakes.
mistakes should be studied in military classrooms, not in cemetaries.
its like everytime you think of your beloved child, you think of how many times you beat him for being stupid, instead of how much fun you had with him raising him.
sometimes there are things you and a country would rather forget.
honor the death of the 35. shake your head in grief, yes.
but dont keep bringing it up every time you go over your dads house to visit.[;)]0 -
Israel very well knew that Liberty was a U.S. ship. They were never called to account for murdering our sailors.
What an ally.0
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