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40 Years After Capture, USS Pueblo Crew Reunites
FOX/AP ^ | September 06, 2008

Posted on 09/06/2008 7:16:41 PM PDT by nuconvert

40 Years After Capture, USS Pueblo Crew Reunites

JERICHO, Vt. — Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968.

Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members. Some still suffer the physical effects of torture or malnutrition they suffered in 11 months of captivity.

McClintock is proud of his service as a 24-year-old communications technician and the bonds he made with his crew mates, but that pride is tinged with bitterness.

"We were treated as heroes when we got back, but what the Navy, the institution of the Navy really wanted, in my opinion, is the Pueblo to have sunk," McClintock said at his Jericho home. "When we came back, the Navy now has to look at itself and they don't like to look at themselves."

On Wednesday, 40 of the 69 surviving crew members will gather in neighboring Essex for a four-day reunion featuring exhibits and speeches by experts on U.S.-Korean relations

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foreignpolicy; navy; northkorea; pueblo; reunion; sailors; usn; usspueblo
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1 posted on 09/06/2008 7:16:42 PM PDT by nuconvert
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To: nuconvert

“”I think the crew has always wanted someone in the Navy to stand up and say ‘Hey, you guys did a great job in a poorly conceived mission without any backup,”’ said Skip Schumacher, 65, of St. Louis, a lieutenant junior grade on the ship.”

I wonder if McCain could talk to someone in the Navy to help make this happen?


2 posted on 09/06/2008 7:18:27 PM PDT by nuconvert (Obama - Preferred by 4 out of 5 Dictators & Terrorists// Biden= Big,Blowhard Doofus)
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To: nuconvert

Thanks for making me feel real old.


3 posted on 09/06/2008 7:18:42 PM PDT by stayathomemom ( nowanemptynester)
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To: stayathomemom

I was around back then too ;~ )


4 posted on 09/06/2008 7:19:54 PM PDT by nuconvert (Obama - Preferred by 4 out of 5 Dictators & Terrorists// Biden= Big,Blowhard Doofus)
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To: nuconvert

McCain should demand the USS Pueblo be returned to the United States.

If not, sink it with a cruise missile and give it an honorable end.

That it is a propaganda museum for Lil Kim is a disgrace.


5 posted on 09/06/2008 7:24:11 PM PDT by exit82 (The only person that could get me to vote for John McCain is Sarah Palin -God bless her)
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To: stayathomemom

My Gosh, I was stationed at Osan Air Force Base the day they took the Pueblo. They pulled us out of the base bowling alley to go on alert. From that point on our tour took on a whole different outlook and seriousness.

We waited for LBJ to give the order to get that ship back but it never came.

The rest is history.


6 posted on 09/06/2008 7:25:03 PM PDT by kempster
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To: nuconvert

The capture of the Pueblo was an intelligence bonanza for the Soviets.


7 posted on 09/06/2008 7:28:42 PM PDT by Locomotive Breath
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To: exit82

I always wonder what would become of the Pueblos if, for some reason, she is returned to the USA. Would she become a museum, or would she be consigned to a scrap yard so the Navy doesn’t have to be reminded of the whole sordid story. I would hope it’s the former. I’d love to see her. Perhaps the remaing crewmembers would like to walk her decks again.

I believe this is the first re-union since CDR Lloyd Bucher died. I may be wrong about that, though.


8 posted on 09/06/2008 7:36:13 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (DRILL NOW. DRILL OFTEN. DRILL 24/7/365. PAY LESS. SUCK THE GROUND DRY.)
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To: nuconvert

Too bad the crypto gear was so solidly built. I wonder if the military has learned from that?


9 posted on 09/06/2008 7:41:48 PM PDT by supercat
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To: nuconvert

You can find it pretty easily on Google Earth. It’s amazing how small that ship really is, and makes you wonder what buffoon put it so far out there on it’s own 40 years ago.


10 posted on 09/06/2008 7:42:16 PM PDT by paddles
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To: NCC-1701
My understanding is that N. Korea keeps her in excellent shape, though she is desecrated with propaganda signs.

Grade schoolers do mandatory tours of the ship.

11 posted on 09/06/2008 7:48:34 PM PDT by Wiseghy ("You want to break this army? Then break your word to it.")
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To: nuconvert
I was aboard the USS Enterprise as the time. We left Sasebo Japan with orders to head for Korea which we did. I worked on the flight deck and I can tell you it was cold. I had to cut the arms off a sweater and put over my head to keep warm. We all stood around the exhaust of the APU’s to keep warm when not working.
12 posted on 09/06/2008 7:50:29 PM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: exit82

And Richardson went on a tour of it when he was in North Korea. What an unpatriotic PUTZ.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/04/09/richardson_tours_captured_us_warship/


13 posted on 09/06/2008 7:50:37 PM PDT by sgtyork (The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage. Thucydides)
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To: nuconvert

http://www.koreanwar.org/html/dmz_war.html


14 posted on 09/06/2008 7:51:13 PM PDT by kjenerette (www.jenerette.org - U.S. Army Paratrooper)
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To: kjenerette

http://www.jenerette.com/dmz/


15 posted on 09/06/2008 7:52:14 PM PDT by kjenerette (www.jenerette.org - U.S. Army Paratrooper)
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To: nuconvert
And how appropriate, that the North Korean Commies are reassembling their nuclear facilities, demonstrating once again that our illustrious President has been played for a sucker by negotiating with these sumb!tches. And Kim Jong Il is definitely looking forward to more goodies coming his way should an Obama Administration be sworn in next January.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
Those clowns in Pyongyang have been laughing their asses off at us for decades, it's time to wipe that smirk off their faces with a major smackdown. Give them 48 hours to tow the Pueblo to international waters where the U.S. Navy will take possession, or we'll sink her on the spot where she's anchored.
16 posted on 09/06/2008 7:56:07 PM PDT by mkjessup (If Ronald Reagan were with us today, he'd say "Vote McCain/Palin, & Win One More for the Gipper!!!")
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To: sgtyork

Man, I had forgotten that. That SOB. He knew what he was doing—and there is no excuse for it.


17 posted on 09/06/2008 7:56:16 PM PDT by exit82 (The only person that could get me to vote for John McCain is Sarah Palin -God bless her)
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To: nuconvert

I remember this, and thinking at the time, “How could we let this happen?
Is THIS how we support our military?”

It certainly affected my decision to wait out the draft, the only lottery I ever won.

But it is inexcusable that we allow NK to keep the Pueblo.
Sounds like sinking her is a job for a S.E.A.L. team to me...


18 posted on 09/06/2008 8:06:03 PM PDT by Redbob (W.W.J.B.D. - "What Would Jack Bauer Do?")
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To: nuconvert
I wonder if McCain could talk to someone in the Navy to help make this happen?

You're kidding, right?

Are you familiar with McCain's history about MIAs and POWs?

19 posted on 09/06/2008 8:10:17 PM PDT by ladyjane
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To: stayathomemom

They were captured a year before I was born....lol


20 posted on 09/06/2008 8:11:57 PM PDT by MissouriConservative (Never pick a fight with an ugly person; they've got nothing to lose.)
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