June 8, 2004

• 37 YEARS AGO TODAY

  
  

  

  
  

  USS Liberty

  
  

  Jun 8 1967
  

  34 American servicemen are killed and 171 wounded when the highly-conspicuous U.S.S. Liberty is strafed twice in 75 minutes by Israeli fighters and torpedo boats. The American spy ship happens to be sitting in international waters, 15 miles off the coast of Egypt, monitoring unfolding events of the Six Day War.

  
  

   Israel says there was no pre-attack reconnaissance. Any aircraft we saw, they say, were high in the sky carrying troops to the battlefield.

  
  

  

  
  

  Here is an Israeli reconnaissance airplane that circled the ship about an hour before the attack. The pilot was heard reporting to HQ that he saw an American flag and men sunning themselves on deck. 

  
  

  "Israeli aircraft had circled us throughout the night (identified by their radar characteristics), and now, with daylight, they came closer and we could see the Star of David markings. Often they came so close that we could see the pilots in their cockpits and exchanged friendly waves."

  
  

  
  

  "I was the officer-of-the-deck on the bridge during this period, and following each visit our leading intercept supervisor, Chief Melvin Smith, would come up to the bridge and ask if I had seen the aircraft's markings to confirm his own electronic observations: 'Not to worry,' he would say, 'Each time they circle we can hear the pilot telling his headquarters that we are an American ship.'" 
  

  
  

  "I ordered the quartermaster to haul up a new flag, with bright and clear colors, and instructed signalmen and lookouts to assure that the flag never wrapped around the lines or mast making it difficult to see even for a few seconds. I was pleased to see that we had a steady breeze across the deck, always more than enough to hold the flag out so that it could be seen clearly by the Israeli pilots."

  
  

  

  
  

  Battle dressing station

  
  

  The attack has been a matter of controversy ever since. Survivors and many key government officials including Secretary of State Dean Rusk and former JCS Chairman Admiral Thomas Moorer say it was no accident. Israel and its supporters insist it was a "tragic case of misidentification" and charge that the survivors are either lying or too emotionally involved to see the truth.

  
  

  Israel claims they mistook our ship for the out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El Quseir and that we brought the attack upon ourselves by operating in a war zone without displaying a flag.

  
  

  

  
  

  Caskets being loaded at Malta

  
  

  Our commanding officer, Captain William Loren McGonagle, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty during the attack. To avoid embarrassing our attackers, Captain McGonagle's Medal of Honor was presented in a quiet ceremony in the Washington Navy Yard instead of in the White House by the President as is customary.

  
  

  www.ussliberty.org

  
  

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  • 12:10 pm
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