The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The USS PUEBLO HiJacking (1/23/1968) - Nov. 4th, 2003

http://home.sandiego.edu/~sgreer/pueblo.html ^

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Valin. Learned something new today. Never heard of this incident.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor

[SAMWolf]

Thakns Johnny.

[SAMWolf]

It was about 3 weeks after the high-jacking that it occured to us that we were not going to do anything to the NKs for this. Needless to say moral went right down the tubes

I can believe that. I finally figured out that most politicians and their "political decisions" are bad for morale and usually get people killed.

[SAMWolf]

I believe back in the 70's PBS and "Hallmark" produced a movie presentation of this illegal capture. Hal Holbrook gave a brillant portrayal of Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher.

Yep, Your right, I saw it when it was aired. Holbrook did a good job. I knew we never got the ship back but didn't know they were using it as a tourist attraction.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Good morning!

Quite the mess here this morning. Five inches of new snow in my driveway and a slippery drive to work. Wasn't what I had in mind for election day here!

[Valin]

That pretty much started my years of wandering in the leftist wilderness. President Jimmy brought me back to reality(And yes I voted for him...the FIRST time, hey we're all entitled to one mistake)

I think many of us understood that with Viet-Nam(the reason I volunteered for Korea...nothing ever happened there) going on they were a priority. But if we weren't going to really do anything why do a massive buildup like they did. We went from (if memory serves) 5 F-4s to three Squadrons in less than a week, there were aircraft stacked up halfway back to Alaska, and us cops were hotbunking and sharing cold weather gear.

[colorado tanker]

Nice thread, Sam. Very appropriate for the anniversary of the Teheran embassy seizure. This thread also reminds me of the Liberty and the P-3 the Chinese took. Our intel people do not seem to be well served, but often left to their own devices.

The Navy put the Pueblo into harms's way with no protection and then tried to make Cmdr. Bucher a scapegoat. A couple of aircraft could easily have chased away the N.K.'s.

[colorado tanker]

"Instead the people chose to vent their anger, such as it was, against their own government. What was an American gunboat doing in China in the first place? Didn't the president and Congress know there was a war going on over there? What were they trying to do, make the Orient safe for democracy?"

Sounds like some of the same drivel we're hearing about Iraq.

[snippy_about_it]

Yuck, snow.

Good afternoon Colonel. I'm not looking forward to winter, never do really. :(

But it's 80 degreess today! :)

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon w/w.

I wish we would get it back.

[SAMWolf]

We didn't get the snow thay predicted. I don't envy you having to drive to work in 5 inches of new snow.

[WaterDragon]

'Morning to you, snippy. They shouldn't even have considered any punishment against these men. I understand they needed an inquiry but to consider punishment was just shameful!

Punishing them just breaks my heart after reading about what they went through. They were very brave, and all but one lived through it! I'm so proud of them for doing that, and managing to show their defiance despite vicious retaliation. The NKs are savages.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks CT.

The Navy put the Pueblo into harms's way with no protection and then tried to make Cmdr. Bucher a scapegoat.

We seem to have a habit of doing things like that.

[Light Speed]

THE FIRST SABRE VERSUS MiG-15 COMBAT

The following account has been reviewed by Colonel Bruce H Hinton for accuracy.
Poor weather over Korea kept the Sabres on the ground until late morning on December 17,1950. F-86A-5s from the Fourth flew their first combat patrol that day from Kimpo. Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton, the commander of the 336th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and a veteran pilot, led a flight of four F-86s north to patrol MiG Alley near Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Antung, China. Colonel Hinton used F-80 radio call signs, flying patterns and altitudes to deceive and entice the MiGs into combat. The trick worked. While the Sabres patrolled in a finger four formation at 25,000 feet, four MiGs took off from Antung to attack. The MiGs approached at 18,000 feet climbing in a southeasterly direction near Sinuiju. Colonel Hinton radioed the other Sabres to release their droptanks, but his own radio was not working. They did jettison their droptanks, however, and dove on the MiGs as the MiGs paralleled the Yalu River. As Colonel Hinton banked to close behind the MiGs, he became separated from his flight. The Sabres closed at 410 knots and 20,000 feet while increasing their airspeed at maximum power. The MiGs dove and then began a climbing left turn. Colonel Hinton's airspeed on his early F-86A exceeded the red line on his machmeter at this point. Then the MiGs broke. Colonel Hinton fired a long burst from his six .50 calibre machine guns hitting the second MiG-15 in its right wing and fuselage. Leaks were seen from the MiG which began smoking. Colonel Hinton then fired a long burst and saw fire exit the MiG's tailpipe as smoke was seen coming from the rest of the enemy plane. He fired another long burst, and fire covered the entire rear of the MiG's fuselage. As the MiG slowed, Colonel Hinton opened his dive brakes and throttled the engine back. The MiG was given another long burst. Pieces flew off as the MiG rolled on its back and went down. The stricken MiG-15 crashed ten miles southeast of the Yalu River. Colonel Hinton fired 1,200 rounds on his attack. One other MiG was damaged by Captain Morris Pitts, but all three remaining MiGs outran the Sabres across the Yalu River to Manchuria. Colonel Hinton later flew a victory roll as he returned to Kimpo.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! OK You used up your one mistake quota. At least you didn't vote for Slick Willie.

[SAMWolf]

Nice Light Speed.

We were fighting Migs in Korea with Corsairs for a while.

[Light Speed]

USS Guam PR-3

The Port treaties of the 1920's..which enabled commerce on the inland rivers of China.
The many "Gunboats" serving on China Station so that companies like Standard Oil could explore resource possibilities in China.

The current dilemma of Iraq has been the norm for a hundred years as envious peoples attack progess in the name of nationalism.

oil/commerce and Communist China...oil/commerce and Islam.

not much change in 100 yrs

[SAMWolf]

Progress means loss of control of the population to the Mullahs and sheiks, just like it did to the warlords and communists.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for some interesting information. The Shanghai station and the Yangtze gunboats are almost a forgotten subject in our history. Sam, has a thread been done on this?

Using military force to protect commerce has gotten a bad name, unfairly so in my opinion. Think about it. The primary destablizing countries who triggered WWII, Germany, Italy and Japan, have all decided that getting rich is more fun than fighting wars. If we can persuade the Arabs that this is so, we will have come a long way toward winning the war on terror.