51 years ago today

[jgaynor]

An unarmed US intelligence ship was sailing in international waters in the Mediterranean when it was brutally attacked by Israeli planes and torpedo boats.
When the attacks were over 34 US servicemen were dead and 174 wounded.
The ship was totally wrecked and while it was able to limp into port for emergency repairs the 40 Million dollar vessel was ultimately written off and scrapped.

Remember the crew of the Liberty.

The incident was never investigated by the US Congress.

Never Again!

[bruce]

Remember well when it happened. No way to explain credibly why a supposed friend of the US would attack the Liberty. No way to explain why the US did nothing at all about it. The ship ... expendable asset. The men ... treated exactly the same. What to do? Personally ... I'd fire 51 cruise missiles at Israel from ships in the Med. sea targeted at Israeli ships ... without regard to size, etc. Those 51 cruise missiles would just about eliminate Israeli naval power and send a clear message to everyone friend or foe that those who play stupid games with the US will be given the stupid prize ... by the US. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[Sandpebble]

One of the crew lives nearby ... one of the first wounded.

The Skipper was wounded and through the hours they were under attack he refused to leave the bridge .... He received the Medal of Honor for his actions

[jgaynor]

One of the crew lives nearby ... one of the first wounded.

The Skipper was wounded and through the hours they were under attack he refused to leave the bridge .... He received the Medal of Honor for his actions

Thats correct. However, the award was not personally conferred by the then President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. The MOH was presented at a secret ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard.

LBJ did "not want to embarrass an ally".

[Sandpebble]

Thats correct. However, the award was not personally conferred by the then President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. The MOH was presented at a secret ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard.

LBJ did "not want to embarrass an ally".

Thats also correct .... are they a better ally now ?

[fjruple]

Most of our allies are not really allies but nations that share a common interest. As an intelligence chief once told me.

[JB White]

Remember well when it happened. No way to explain credibly why a supposed friend of the US would attack the Liberty. No way to explain why the US did nothing at all about it. The ship ... expendable asset. The men ... treated exactly the same. What to do? Personally ... I'd fire 51 cruise missiles at Israel from ships in the Med. sea targeted at Israeli ships ... without regard to size, etc. Those 51 cruise missiles would just about eliminate Israeli naval power and send a clear message to everyone friend or foe that those who play stupid games with the US will be given the stupid prize ... by the US. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

Bruce, while I share your frustration you need to think about the world situation at the time. Israel embroiled in war in the Middle East. Cannot afford to make reparations nor can they make apologies in the face of their enemies. We were in the middle of the Cold War. Fighting in SEA and elsewhere. Problems in South America, Central America etc. Europe was divided. Czechoslovakia was simmering. NATO was bickering while China and the Soviet Union were both looking at us from across the chess board.

Posturing was called for then. However I do think it should not have been swept under the carpet like it was. Israel has had half a century to atone and nobody in power on our end wants to remind them.

As far as destroying their navy in retaliation, what a pickle that would put us in.

[S.A. Boggs]

From some reports that I have read our "intelligence" ship was playing both sides against the middle in hopes of keeping things equal. Intelligence was being supplied to the Egyptian government to curry favor against the Soviets at that time. Johnson had a hatred of the Soviets because of the mess he had in Nam running the war. Johnson was a good politician, a bad national leader and a worse general/admiral. Johnson guessed wrong on the Israel response and our people died, this is one of the reasons that the Democratic Congress never held hearings. In 1968 North Korea captured a similar ship and again Johnson did nothing further embolden our enemies. Fast forward to Libya and the allowable murder of our people, again nothing in response. Put Johnson and Obama up side to side and you have one person in different color the end result is the same. My information comes from reports that I read in libraries before the net, I wish I could remember where but I can't.
Sam

[jgaynor]

From some reports that I have read our "intelligence" ship was playing both sides against the middle in hopes of keeping things equal. Intelligence was being supplied to the Egyptian government to curry favor against the Soviets at that time. Johnson had a hatred of the Soviets because of the mess he had in Nam running the war. Johnson was a good politician, a bad national leader and a worse general/admiral. Johnson guessed wrong on the Israel response and our people died, this is one of the reasons that the Democratic Congress never held hearings. In 1968 North Korea captured a similar ship and again Johnson did nothing further embolden our enemies. Fast forward to Libya and the allowable murder of our people, again nothing in response. Put Johnson and Obama up side to side and you have one person in different color the end result is the same. My information comes from reports that I read in libraries before the net, I wish I could remember where but I can't.
Sam

I do not believe the canard about furnishing intelligence to both sides or to the arabs. Their were no Hebrew linguists aboard for one thing. And the war was at the time of the attack for all intents and purposes over. Except for the planned Israeli attack on the Golan Heights.

Only the Israelis can answer why they attacked. The Liberty had been spotted by their reconnaissance aircraft at about dawn local time that morning. The ship was identified in "Janes" and marked on a plotting board in the Israeli Naval Headquarters as a neutral ship.

Later that morning in a case of glaring negligence the watch at INH changed and the new watch commander ordered the neutral marker removed. Early that afternoon aircraft were ordered to attack first with guns and possibly rockets later with Napalm. Finally a flotilla of torpedo boats came in to finish the ship off. One torpedo hit a compartment housing the radio intercept "research" spaces inflicting about 26 of the 34 KIA.

[S.A. Boggs]

Be interesting to know what is still in the archives of our government for that time period, perhaps the President can get Israel to open up theirs too. Why did the neutral markings come down, did our fleet have a CAP?
Sam

[jgaynor]

Be interesting to know what is still in the archives of our government for that time period, perhaps the President can get Israel to open up theirs too. Why did the neutral markings come down, did our fleet have a CAP?
Sam

Well Sam I don't have much faith in our current president as by his own admission "he doesn't like servicemen who are captured" and presumably wounded or killed in action. Fits his definition of "losers".

As to why the marker was removed from the War room plotting board see below the Yarushalmi report. Apparently their was a shift change at Naval headquarters and the commander assumed the position was inaccurate since it had been on the board for a while. At the time the Liberty was loafing along sailing away from the Gaza coast line I believe at about 5 knots. Have to wonder just how far can it have move since last overflight.

The Liberty had no CAP. While the ship was operated by the Navy it was sailing under NSA orders and not part of the Sixth Fleet. After the first air attack shot away the antennas some crewmen managed to jury rig a com circuit and get a message through to carriers operating a few hundred miles to the east. At least one of them launched "ready" fighters but they were some distance away.

Another article published more recently has the attacking israeli pilots communicating with their headquarters - See the Haaretz article below.

[jgaynor]

Apparently this site is not letting me post links any more?

[bostonbound]

jgaynor,

Seems you are making things up again. Just like the liberal media, you take selected words out of context to fabricate things that were not said.

Trump said that being captured did not make McCain a hero. That credo has been part of the American mythos for as long as there has been an America. How many Americans won the Medal of Honor by refusing to surrender and continuing the battle.

Remember “Don’t give up the ship!”

Or I guess you would not call the defenders of the Alamo heroes, since they chose to die rather than surrender.

[jgaynor]

jgaynor,

Seems you are making things up again. Just like the liberal media, you take selected words out of context to fabricate things that were not said.

Trump said that being captured did not make McCain a hero. That credo has been part of the American mythos for as long as there has been an America. How many Americans won the Medal of Honor by refusing to surrender and continuing the battle.

Remember “Don’t give up the ship!”

Or I guess you would not call the defenders of the Alamo heroes, since they chose to die rather than surrender.

boston bound ignorance is bliss it seems. The Captain of the USS Chesapeake, James Lawrence, who uttered the famous phrase you cited was badly wounded in the battle. The Chesapeake was boarded by British sailors who carried the wounded Captain to the surgeon for treatment of his wounds. So although he said "don't give up the ship" he was too badly wounded to prevent its surrender. Not unlike when John McCain was shot out of the sky, wounded, tortured and subsequently endured five years imprisonment.

The point of bringing this up was to remind people once again what happened.
Urge once more the need for a formal investigation before all the survivors and witnesses are dead.