Posted on 06/08/2002 6:19:28 PM PDT by RCW2001
Israel attacked the USS Liberty
Chuck Hendricks was fighting for his life aboard the USS Liberty, a Navy spy ship, 35 years ago today. His ship was attacked by unmarked Israeli fighter planes and three high-speed torpedo boats off the Sinai Peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea during the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Arabs.
Thirty-four American servicemen were killed and 171 wounded in the unprovoked attack on the lightly armed Liberty during the air-sea battle that lasted more than an hour. Hendricks was one of the lucky ones -- he was only injured.
Israeli forces attacked the Liberty because the surveillance ship's crew knew Israel was going to attempt to capture Syria's Golan Heights, a strategic position coveted by Israel. This was something Israelis didn't want the world to know about in advance, particularly the United States.
The 57-year-old North Port barbershop owner was a communications "spook" aboard the intelligence-gathering ship collecting electronic information from the super-secret National Security Agency. He was injured when the Israelis strafed, bombed and torpedoed the Liberty.
"The Israeli attack on the USS Liberty was a grievous error largely attributable to the fact that it occurred in the midst of the confusion of a full-scale war in 1967," the Jewish Virtual Library on the Internet notes.
Retired Adm. Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a 1997 statement on the anniversary of the attack said, "... Israel knew the Liberty could intercept radio messages, ... that (it) was preparing to seize the Golan Heights from Syria despite President Johnson's known opposition. I believe Moshe Dayan concluded he could prevent Washington from becoming aware of what Israel was up to by destroying the primary source of acquiring that information, the USS Liberty," Moorer noted.
Hendricks was a 22-year-old communications technician 2nd class from Brazil, Ind., serving aboard the Liberty. It was cruising just off the Sinai Peninsula in international waters in the Mediterranean on June 8, 1967. He had been to the Navy's language school and was one of 100 intelligence gatherers aboard ship conducting electronic eavesdropping.
The Six-Day War was four days old when the Liberty arrived near the coast. It was close enough that Hendricks remembers seeing smoke from the fighting on shore.
"The U.S. wanted to know more about the quality of the Russian fighter planes and tanks they were supplying the Egyptians who were involved in the war against the Israelis," he said. "This was a good time to find out about their military hardware.
"In the morning a flying boxcar circled our ship. It took pictures of us and the pilot waved. I could see the Star of David on the wing of the transport circling overhead. I felt secure, Hendricks recalled.
Flying in plain view from the mast of the Liberty was the American flag. On the bow were large letters that read: "GTR-5." It signified the ship was a technical research vessel.
"Sometime in the early afternoon, several (unmarked) Israeli (French Dassault Mirage) jet fighters came in flat off the horizon and strafed our ship," he said. "I was on the deck taking a break. Their bullets sounded like gravel when they hit the deck.
"I ran for my battle station below. I almost reached the hatch when the planes made another pass. The men in front and behind me were hit.
"Then one of the jets fired a rocket at our bridge. When it hit, the blast picked me up and threw me head first into the bulkhead. I was stunned and sustained a concussion, but I scrambled below deck to my battle station," Hendricks said.
The jets were sill pounding the almost defenseless spy ship as the crew was radioing for help. The U.S. 6th Fleet was 450 miles west of the Liberty.
The carrier USS Saratoga scrambled fighters to come to its assistance. But Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recalled the fighters while they were in the air.
Military experts maintain the secretary wasn't certain who was attacking the Liberty. They say he thought it might be the Russians and he didn't want to start World War III.
"About that time the attacking fighters flew off. We still had things under control," Hendricks said. "About 15 or 20 minutes later, three French-made Israeli torpedo boats showed up about 500 yards off the Liberty.
"'Stand by for torpedo attack!' a voice said over the intercom a few minutes later. "My next recollection after that was there was water in my face. A torpedo had hit 12 feet from where I was, one deck below and one compartment forward."
It blew a 40-foot hole in the side of the Liberty
"I was pitch black in the compartment. Water was coming in fast from the hole in the ship's side. I couldn't breathe very well because of the cordite in the air from the exploded torpedo," he said.
Hendricks was dazed, cut by shrapnel wounds and had suffered a badly burned ear when the torpedo detonated. He got to his feet and made his way in the dark toward the compartment door.
"I was the first one out of our compartment. Water was up to my waist by then," he said. "As I tried to get through to the passageway, the compartment door closed on me because of the water pressure. I was pinned tightly.
"I tried like hell to get out of there, but I couldn't. By the time the water got up to my neck, I went limp and started saying my prayers in the dark," he said. "Somehow a guy who was making his way down the passageway bumped into me and dragged me free of the door.
"I could see a light up ahead in the passageway that led to a ladder going up to a hatch that opened onto the deck. We both made it and climbed up to the big hatch. It was dogged down tight. All that was open in the center of the big hatch was a smaller scuttle hatch," Hendricks said.
Two Marines were standing at their battle stations on deck near the hatch that he and his buddy were trying to escape through.
"I stuck my arms through the scuttle hatch. The Marines pulled me through to safety.
"I was told one of those Marines went down through that little hatch two times and pulled two more men to safety. On the third rescue attempt he didn't make it out. I believe he received the Silver Star Medal posthumously."
The gun boats that were circling the Liberty were shooting at anything on board that moved. They even machine gunned a life raft that was put over the side when the crew thought the ship might sink, according to accounts of the engagement.
"By this time, they had apparently decided it was too late to sink us because the world already knew what was going on with them in the Six-Day War," Hendricks said. "I have no doubt, if they could have sunk us without the world knowing, they would have."
The first friendly ship he and the rest of the crew aboard the Liberty saw was a U.S. destroyer. It arrived the next morning.
Hendricks had received medical attention for his wounds by then, but he was airlifted by helicopter off the Liberty to the carrier, the USS American, for further treatment. He spent four or five days recovering from his injuries.
By then the Liberty made port. It looked like a piece of Swiss cheese, he said. It had a gaping hole in its port side and 821 bullet and rocket holes from the Israeli attack.
The spy ship's crew was "... forced, by the powers that be, to sign documents saying they would never talk to anyone about the attack," Hendricks' said. "But I was on the carrier recovering and didn't sign anything."
He said he wants to make it perfectly clear he has no animosity toward the Jewish people because of the attack on the Liberty. It's the Israeli government he is upset with as a result of the incident.
The Navy and the U.S. government tried to put a lid on the whole affair. They quickly repaired the damaged to the ship and kept the crew away from the media.
But over the years, more and more of the tale has surfaced.
Immediately after the Liberty docked, a board of inquiry was convened aboard ship. It was attended by a bevy of admirals and generals. It produced nothing of any lasting consequences, despite the fact more than 200 U.S. Navy personnel had been killed or wounded.
"The captain of the carrier Saratoga said that both Johnson and McNamara knew (while the attack was still going on) it was the Israelis who were doing the shooting. I think the president and the secretary of defense would have been just as happy if we had sunk. It would have saved a lot of embarrassment," Hendricks said.
"The shame of it is, the people who were running this country at the time weren't doing what they should have been doing.
"All of us aboard the Liberty were young men back then. We did our duty, just like the guys who fought in Vietnam," he said.
"It's the higher-ups that failed. They're the people that didn't do their duty. "My generation didn't fail this country. This country failed my generation."
Capt. McGonagle receives Medal of Honor
Capt. William L. McGonagle was the skipper of the USS Liberty when it was attacked by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats. His Medal of Honor commendation reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sailing in international waters, the Liberty was attacked without warning by jet fighter aircraft and motor torpedo boats which inflicted many casualties among the crew and caused extreme damage to the ship.
"Although severely wounded during the first air attack, Capt. McGonagle remained at his battle station on the badly damaged bridge and, with full knowledge of the seriousness of his wounds, subordinated his own welfare to the safety and survival of his command. Steadfastly refusing any treatment which would take him away from his post, he calmly continued to exercise firm command of his ship.
"Despite continuous exposure to fire, he maneuvered his ship, directed its defense, supervised the control of flooding and fire, and saw to the care of the casualties. Capt. McGonagle's extraordinary valor under these conditions inspired the surviving members of the Liberty's crew, many of them seriously wounded, to heroic efforts to overcome the battle damage and keep the ship afloat. Subsequently to the attack, although in great pain and weak from the loss of blood, Capt. McGonagle remained at his battle station and continued to command his ship for more than 17 hours.
"It was only after rendezvous with a U.S. destroyer that he relinquished personal control of the Liberty and permitted himself to be removed from the bridge. Even then, he refused much needed medical attention until convinced that the seriously wounded among his crew had been treated.
"Capt. McGonagle's superb professionalism, courageous fighting spirit, and valiant leadership saved his ship and many lives. His actions sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service."
His commendations
Chuck Hendricks was awarded the Purple Heart, the Presidential Unit Citation, along with the rest of the Liberty's crew, National Defense Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and the Good Conduct Medal.
You can e-mail Don Moore at moore@sun-herald.com
By DON MOORE
Senior Writer
Frankly, it would be better if the Israelis admitted responsibility and gave us, the families of those killed, and the survivors a real apology for this cruel and foolish mistake.
The U.S. has done some stupid things too--most notably clinton's unprovoked and criminal attack on Yugoslavia. When one of your leaders makes such a mistake, it's best to admit it and amend the situation as best you may. At least Israel had the excuse that their backs were to the wall and they feared that Johnson would intervene to make their situation even worse--which still doesn't excuse it.
Some quotes by people who might actually know what happened.
-- Lieutenant General Marshall S. Carter, director of the National Security Agency at the time: "There was no other answer than it was deliberate."
-- Dr. Louis Tordella, the deputy director of NSA at the time: "I believed the attack might have been ordered by some senior commander on the Sinai Peninsula [where the massacres were taking place] who wrongly suspected that the Liberty was monitoring his activities." Tordella also scrawled across the top page of the formal Israeli "mistake" report, "A nice whitewash."
-- Major General John Morrison, NSA deputy director of Operations at the time: "Nobody believes that explanation. The only conjecture that we ever made that made any near sense is that the Israelis did not want us to intercept their communications at that time."
-- Walter Deeley, the senior NSA official who conducted an internal NSA investigation of the incident: "There is no way that they didn't know that the Liberty was American."
-- Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "I have to conclude that it was Israel's intent to sink the Liberty and leave as few survivors as possible. Israel knew perfectly well that the ship was American."
-- Captain William L. McGonnagle, the Liberty's commander: "After many years I finally believe that the attack was deliberate."
-- Phillip F. Tourney, president of the USS Liberty Veterans Association and a survivor of the attack: "The Israelis got by with cold-blooded, premeditated murder of Americans."
-- Richard Helms, Director of Central Intelligence at the time: "Your chapter on the Liberty was exactly right."
-- George Christian, press secretary to President Johnson at the time: "I became convinced that an accident of this magnitude was too much to swallow."
-- Paul C. Warnke, Under Secretary of the Navy at the time: "I found it hard to believe that it was, in fact, an honest mistake on the part of the Israeli air force units.... I suspect that in the heat of battle they figured that the presence of this American ship was inimical to their interests."
-- Dean Rusk, Secretary of State at the time: "The Liberty was flying an American flag. It was not all that difficult to identify, and my judgment was that somewhere along the line some fairly senior Israeli official gave the go-ahead for these attacks."
-- David G. Nes, the deputy head of the American mission in Cairo at the time: "I don't think that there's any doubt that it was deliberate.... [It is] one of the great cover-ups of our military history."
-- George Ball, Under Secretary of State at the time: "American leaders did not have the courage to punish Israel for the blatant murder of its citizens."
Not at all. It is the Israeli reaction to any story about the Liberty which makes this so intriguing. As far as America's national interest being compromised, Israel did far more damage with Operation Shenandoah and Pollard. What is odd is that when the Lavon Affair is mentioned, there is no reaction at all. But every mention of the Liberty is met with charges of antisemitism.
Btw...relating history is not "defaming".
I usually don't like pop quizes, but the answer is Willis Carto.
Well lets start with, we acknowledged the error, Israel did not. We investigated the incident, Israel did not. Those found guilty will be punshed. Israel did not punish anyone. We will end up paying for the loss, Israel did not. BTW my Canadian friend, we bombed 20 of our own guys, killing a few of them and seriously injuring the others. Not to say took out the entire HALO Team for 5th Special Forces.
Lastly, you have at least my apologies. Israel has never done this to the crew of the Liberty. That is what this is really about.....
BTW, we still don't have the balls.....
Well lets start with, we acknowledged the error, Israel did not. We investigated the incident, Israel did not. Those found guilty will be punshed. Israel did not punish anyone. We will end up paying for the loss, Israel did not.
Uhm, you should've reviewed the facts before writing that paragraph:
"Israel apologized for the tragedy and paid nearly $13 million in humanitarian reparations to the United States and to the families of the victims in amounts established by the U.S. State Department. The matter was officially closed between the two government by an exchange of diplomatic notes on December 17, 1987.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/liberty.html
How in the hell do you put a spy ship into a warzone and 450 miles away from support?
Plus McNamara's actions were completely cowardly....another Liberal handjob that expected the sky to fall if the US defended itself.
"The carrier USS Saratoga scrambled fighters to come to its assistance. But Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recalled the fighters while they were in the air. Military experts maintain the secretary wasn't certain who was attacking the Liberty. They say he thought it might be the Russians and he didn't want to start World War III."
Anyway...
Israel did what it had to do.
I dont hold any grudges for what happened. I wish they would've just been up front with Washington but I dont know how much they could've or did trust the Liberals in the White House.
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