War Without End

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IN Awesome Heroism In Defense of the USS Liberty

On June 8, 1967, the spy ship USS Liberty withstood an unparalleled assault by Israeli
torpedo boats and planes off the coast of Egypt. Despite official and public abandonment,
the courageous crew deserves recognition on this 40th anniversary of the costliest hostile
U.S. ship action since World War II.

By Richard K. Kolb
VFW.ORG

"They [the Bureau of Naval
Personnel] sent a message
back, and they said, ‘Wounded
in what action?,’ ” recalled
Ensign Pat O’Malley. “‘Killed in what
action?’ They say it wasn’t ‘action,’ it was
‘an accident.’ ”

O’Malley was incredulous because his
ship had just been subjected to intense
incendiary, machine-gun and rocket fire
by jet fighter aircraft and motor torpedo
boats of what turned out to be an ally.
Even today, 40 years later, this reaction
remains typical when a Liberty veteran
relates the ordeal he experienced in the
eastern Mediterranean Sea that summer
day. Despite the fact that this ship sustained
the highest per capita casualties—
70% equating to 206 Purple Hearts—in
hostile action of any American ship since
World War II.

Medal citations related to the surface
battle are replete with references to hostile
fire. At least a half dozen use the
phrases “rocket and machine gun fire,”
“strafing fire” and “attacking torpedo
boat.” Yet how many Americans—even
those older than 55—are aware of what
their sailors underwent during the Six-
Day War of June 1967?

A highly sophisticated intelligencegathering
vessel, the Liberty was in the
area to ascertain if Russians or Egyptians
were piloting six Cairo-based Soviet
bombers flying missions against Israel.
Virtually all magazine accounts of
this action focus on why Israel would
have intentionally attacked an American
craft, as well as on the Johnson Administration’
s cover-up. Suffice it to say
that crewmen have no doubt the attack
was deliberate. Unfortunately, the heroism
of the crew is far too often lost
amidst this controversy.

So for a change, the story of the gallantry
of the sailors aboard will be told.
Only then can the battle the Liberty
waged find its rightful place in the annals
of U.S. naval combat. Instead of being
swept under the historical rug, their
actions should be celebrated along with
those of other valorous ships’ crews
throughout history.

The official attempt to deny what happened
that June 8 knew no bounds. Yet
the evidence was clear to see: The Liberty
sustained 821 shell holes. All forms of
recognition, however, were stalled and/or
concealed.Hostile fire pay was denied the
crew;when it was finally granted, only the
wounded were deemed worthy.

The prestigious Presidential Unit Citation
was not presented to the men;
they didn’t know anything about the
award until years later. And it did not
even identify the attackers, making only
vague references to “foreign” aircraft
and boats. Though the citation used
phrases like “heroic achievement,”
“extraordinary heroism” and “exceptional
courage.”

Likewise, the ship captain’s Medal of
Honor citation failed to delineate those
responsible. The Navy secretary, not the
President as usual, presented the actual
medal at the Washington Navy Yard,
instead of in the White House.

Harrowing Ordeal

At 2:03 p.m. on June 8, two Israeli
Mirage fighters attacked the ship, killing
nine sailors. Mystere aircraft trailed,
dropping napalm on the deck. Torpedo
boats followed close behind, launching
their lethal projectiles at 2:34 p.m.

By all measures, the 72 minutes of
combat experienced by the Liberty was
intense. In his book Assault on the
Liberty, James M. Ennes, off-going offi-
cer of the deck at the time, provides
ample graphic descriptions. “The air
filled with hot metal as a geometric pattern
of orange flashes opened holes in
the heavy deck plating,” he wrote of the
initial volleys. “An explosion tossed our
gunners high into the air—spinning,
broken, like rag dolls.”

He continued: “With incredible noise
the aircraft rockets poked eight-inch
holes in the ship; like fire-breathing creatures,
they groped blindly for the men
inside. Already the pilothouse was littered
with helpless and frightened men.”
Below deck, an Israeli torpedo—one of
five fired—explosion flooded the Research
Operations Department, instantly
killing 25 cryptologists. Some died while
burning code lists and destroying a crypto
machine—performing their duty to
the very last. The bulkhead had disinte-
grated before the crew’s eyes.

“With a great crunch,” Ennes wrote,
“flesh and steel were compressed into a
distant corner as the blast hurled men and
equipment the width of the ship.” After a
futile search for the living, a Marine conceded,“
No one is alive down there.”

Meanwhile, on the deck, sailors had
furiously attempted to fight off the merciless
machine gun fire. Gunner’s Mate
Alexander Neil Thompson manned one
of the four unprotected .50-caliber
machine gun mounts over the bodies of
dead shipmates.

His posthumous Silver Star citation
reads: “Courageously and single-handedly
operated machine gun 51 and continued
to fire on the aircraft in the
defense of his ship and shipmates until
he was fatally wounded by a rocket blast.
His aggressiveness and coolness under
fire was exceptional inspirational leadership
in an hour of awesome peril.”

Seaman Dale D. Larkins also received
the Silver Star for solely manning Mount
51 and firing on the attacking torpedo
boats until ordered to stop. Fireman
David Skolak and Lt. Stephen Toth were
awarded posthumous Silver Stars, both
fatally wounded while performing their
duties without regard for their own personal
safety.

Skolak was even a candidate for the
Medal of Honor for attempting to evacuate
wounded sailors under heavy fire.
Unfortunately, there were not enough
witnesses.

The Navy Cross went to Lt. Cmdr.
Philip Armstrong, as well as Petty
Officer Francis Brown, both of whom
died at their posts. Armstrong was trying
to jettison the gasoline drums on
the bridge and organize a party of men
to extinguish the blazing lifeboats, all
the while being fired upon. Brown was
acting as helmsman, standing fast to
maintain the ordered course until torpedo
boat strafing-fire cut him down.

Others performed extraordinary lifesaving
measures. Dr. (Lt.) Richard F.
Kiepfer administered first aid—including
a major surgical operation—throughout
the ship despite enemy fire. Ensign David
G. Lucas assisted in controlling the ship
though he was already wounded.

Capt.William L.McGonagle, a Korean
War veteran, received the Medal of
Honor one year after the attack, on June
11, 1968. Constantly exposed to fire, he
kept control of the Liberty and cared for
casualties.Weakened by the loss of blood,
the commander nonetheless remained at
his battle station for 17 exhausting hours.

Severely wounded, he steadfastly
refused any treatment. To the bitter end,
McGonagle declined medical attention
until convinced that all his crew had been
tended to first. None of the sailors
onboard would have expected “Old Shep”
to be commended with anything less than
the nation’s highest honor for bravery—
for his “extraordinary valor” and “courageous
fighting spirit.”

In an ironic twist of historical fate, it
was a Russian guided-missile destroyer
that first arrived to offer assistance to
the Liberty. Though declined, the Soviet
ship stood by until U.S. warships made
it to the scene of the action in international
waters 13 nautical miles off the
Sinai Peninsula near El Arish.

What the crewmen of the USS
America, Davis and Massey witnessed
was appalling. The torpedo had hit the
starboard side of the superstructure,
leaving a gaping 40-foot hole. Even the
life rafts had been fired upon and, symbolically,
the U.S. flag was shot down.

Ennes described the Main Battle
Dressing Station as “a bloody scene that
seemed somehow reminiscent of the
American Civil War.” Three men were
so badly mangled that they could not be
identified; three others were swept away
into the sea. All six found a common
grave in Arlington National Cemetery.

The treatment meted out to USS
Liberty survivors by their country for
years after the Israeli assault constitutes
a mark of shame. Denied respect and
real recognition, they were never accorded
their proper place in U.S. Navy
history. Eventually awarded the Combat
Action Ribbon, crewmembers still
never saw their action join the pantheon
of heroic sea engagements.

Only relatively recently has the recognition
Liberty vets so richly deserve come
their way. (For the efforts of Liberty vets
to erect memorials to their shipmates, see
the June 2005 issue of VFW.)

Instead of being shunned, the record
of that ship should go down in the
Navy’s proud past as the vessel that
engaged in the most intense surface
combat since WWII.

A Superlative Naval Action

The Liberty had a complement of 294
men, including a 94-man National Security
Agency contingent. Of the crew, 34
were KIA (25 of them cryptologists) and
172 were WIA (three so severely that they
were not expected to live.) Two of the 34
dead were Marines (the three Marines
aboard were Russian and Arabic lin-
guists) and one a civilian. That calculates
to 70% casualties. Eighty-eight of the
men were not physically wounded.

How does that compare with other
U.S. ship casualties due to hostile action
since WWII? Let’s take a look.

The frigate Stark, hit by an Iraqi aircraft
missile on May 17, 1987, in the
Persian Gulf, had a crew of 221.With 37
KIA and 21 WIA, that left the ship with
a startling 26% casualty rate.

During the entire Vietnam War, the
Navy’s greatest single ship loss was that of
the USS Westchester County. The landing
ship, tank, anchored in the My Tho River,
counted 18 sailors KIA (five U.S. soldiers
also were killed) on Nov. 1, 1968, due to
two mines planted by VC frogmen.
Another 22 crewmen were WIA. With
total Navy losses at 40, the “Wesco” had a
30% casualty rate among its 132-man
crew.

For the Korean War, it was the destroyer
Walke that sustained the Navy’s severest
single loss. On June 12, 1951, either a
mine or a torpedo claimed the lives of 26
sailors and wounded 40 others in the Sea
of Japan. With a crew of 300, that
amounted to a casualty rate of 22%.

Four months after the end of WWII,
on Dec. 29, 1945, the minesweeper Minivet
hit a Japanese mine in the Tsushima
Straits between Japan and Korea. The
crew of 91 counted 31 KIA—34% of all
sailors aboard. Ten also were WIA, for a
total casualty rate of 45%.

Several better-known land operations
also suffered fewer KIAs. Neither the
Dominican Republic (1965-66), Koh
Tang Island off Cambodia (1975),
Grenada (1983), Panama (1989) nor
Somalia (1993) equaled the number of
KIA of the Liberty.

Moreover, the Liberty crew certainly
qualifies as one of the most highly decorated
for a single ship action. With one
Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses and
36 Silver or Bronze Stars for little over a
one-hour action, few crews have been so
courageous.

As Vice Adm.William I. Martin, commander
of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean
Sea, said in July 1967, “I
commend to every man who sails in the
Sixth Fleet the fact that the USS Liberty
has become a legend in her own times.”J

E-mail rkolb@vfw.org

http://www.ussliberty.org/pdf/vfw_ussliberty.pdf

Jefferson Davis · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:25 am Post subject:

Nice article D-O.

Welcome back.

Cowboy · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:38 am Post subject:

There have been at least 53 incidents identified where US ships were attacked by friendly fire in just WWII, with 186 killed and 438 wounded.

During the Korean conflict, the Grapple (ARS-7) was mistaken for an enemy vessel and attacked, killing 2 and wounding 11.

in 1968, USS Boston, USS Edson, USCGC Point Dume, HMAS Hobart and two U.S. Swift Boats, PCF-12 and PCF-19 were attacked by US aircraft on June 17 in the Vietnam War. Several sailors were killed and PCF-19 was sunk.

It is unfortunate that those sailors do not get the same praise as the Liberty crew.

Jefferson Davis · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:50 am Post subject:

Keep avoiding and diverting, apologizing and defending Israel over American veterans Mr. AIPAC.

You keep avoiding the question, if only 15 "selected" Liberty crew who were allowed to testify (60 were denied) and you state they are NOT Liars. Then is the Liberty Veterans Organization (of which many of the 15 are members) not liars as well?

Hell will freeze before you'll answer that question which just demonstrates who you are Mr. AIPAC.

Cowboy · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:51 am Post subject:

Why are you afraid to answer, fake American?

Tell us.....

Did the USS Liberty crewmembers testify truthfully under oath at the US Navy Court of Inquiry?

http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/uss-liberty/2007/04/27/proceedings-of-the-u-s-navy-court-of-inquiry-18-june-1967.php ?

Obviously you must believe that they lied.

Also.... Why is it that you show absolutely no concern for the US sailors that I mentioned above?

That answer is just as obvious. You in reality couldn't care less about American sailors being killed unless you can find a way to blame Joooos for it.

Jefferson Davis · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:53 am Post subject:

Keep avoiding and diverting, apologizing and defending Israel over American veterans Mr. AIPAC.

You keep avoiding the question, if only 15 "selected" Liberty crew who were allowed to testify (60 were denied) and you state they are NOT Liars. Then is the Liberty Veterans Organization (of which many of the 15 are members) not liars as well?

Hell will freeze before you'll answer that question which just demonstrates who you are Mr. AIPAC.

Cowboy · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:54 am Post subject:

Why are you afraid to answer, fake American?

Tell us.....

Did the USS Liberty crewmembers testify truthfully under oath at the US Navy Court of Inquiry?

http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/uss-liberty/2007/04/27/proceedings-of-the-u-s-navy-court-of-inquiry-18-june-1967.php ?

Obviously you must believe that they lied.

Also.... Why is it that you show absolutely no concern for the other US sailors that were killed in friendly fire incidents?

That answer is just as obvious. You in reality couldn't care less about American sailors being killed unless you can find a way to blame Joooos for it.

Jefferson Davis · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:58 am Post subject:

I never once said they lied. I have never questioned their integrity. Only you hold that distinction Mr. AIPAC.

Only you make it an issue. Just like the cocksucking neocon Israeli Fifth Columnist you are.

Israeli over America and her vets ALWAYS = Hatikva. Sing it douche bag.

Cowboy · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:00 am Post subject:

Jefferson Davis · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:03 am Post subject:

What part don't you understand Mr. AIPAC neocon? What confuses you?

I never once said they lied. I have never questioned their integrity. Only you hold that distinction Mr. AIPAC.

Only you make it an issue. Just like the cocksucking neocon Israeli Fifth Columnist you are.

Israeli over America and her vets ALWAYS = Hatikva. Sing it douche bag.

Backtracking again. Well isn't that special Mr. AIPAC.

Israel over America ALWAYS = Hatikva Sing it loud Cowkike..

Keep avoiding and diverting, apologizing and defending Israel over American veterans Mr. AIPAC.

You keep avoiding the question, if only 15 "selected" Liberty crew who were allowed to testify (60 were denied) and you state they are NOT Liars. Then is the Liberty Veterans Organization (of which many of the 15 are members) not liars as well?

Hell will freeze before you'll answer that question which just demonstrates who you are Mr. AIPAC.

War Without End

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IN Awesome Heroism In Defense of the USS Liberty