The Day Israel Attacked the USA
June 8, 1967, Another Date That Lives in Infamy
This is my first article for Medium, so please be gentle! Over the past several weeks, I have commented on articles related to the Israel/Palestine War, only to be called antisemitic and racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. My feelings about the nation of Israel were formed long ago when I was a 26 year-old U.S. Navy pilot. Since very few seem to remember the events of June 8, 1967, I am writing about them.
Part One of a Two Part Essay — The Ugly Political Stuff is to Come in Part Two
I follow the climate crisis closely and like most that do, I understand the term “tipping point”. A tipping point is a point where a process has proceeded so far along that it can’t be reversed or stopped. It has taken 56 years but I have finally reached my tipping point with Israel and so this article.
Prior to June 8, 1967, I was an unabashed supporter of Israel. That support was severely eroded during my first deployment as a rescue/utility helicopter pilot aboard the USS America (CVA-66). I was a new co-pilot on my first extended duty away from home and on the high seas. The America’s duty station was the Mediterranean Sea.
Evacuating the Wounded and Transporting the Dead
The relatively routine deployment, which included the rescue of one air wing jet pilot, normal air ops and visits to enjoyable ports, was abruptly interrupted on the afternoon of June 8th. Our “O in C” (Officer in Charge) called an all-pilots meeting to inform us that one of our ships in the eastern Mediterranean had been attacked. The air boss on the America wanted to know if our helicopters could reach the ship (she turned out to be the Liberty) that afternoon. We reported we did not have the range to make the flight, conduct a rescue operation and return to the carrier. My command pilot and I were then scheduled to launch at dawn the following day to assess, report and transport wounded back to the medical unit on the USS America.
We lifted off the next morning and arrived over the Liberty in a little over an hour. The damage was horrific. We were unable to land on any part of the ship. The devastation was total and complete-the ship’s bridge had been severely damaged, hundreds of holes (later counted at 183) were seen throughout the superstructure. We hovered over the ship’s bow and began bringing up wounded sailors via the hoist. As the operation progressed I took in the aftermath of the attack more fully. I was shocked to see what appeared to be blood, sloshing back and forth in the ship’s forward gun tub, as the ship pitched and rolled. I later learned from survivors that crews attempting to defend the ship with a .50 caliber machine gun were killed at that station. In order to evacuate as many as we could, we left one of our crewman on the Liberty and even then we barely had enough power to lift off and return to the America.
The toll for the United States and its navy that day was 34 dead and 171 wounded. For the rest of the day, our pilots and crews ferried wounded to medical facilities and the dead to a morgue, both aboard the USS America. It was an experience I will never forget.
The Surprise Attack
The USS Liberty had been ordered into the eastern Mediterranean to monitor radio transmissions of all participants in the war then raging between Arabs and Israelis. Aboard the Liberty were National Security Agency (NSA) personnel who were there to intercept the communications of the participants and to keep tabs on the Soviets. The Arabs were being supported by the Soviet Union. The USS Liberty was ordered to remain in international waters and during her entire deployment was more than 13 miles offshore from Gaza, Egypt. The Liberty was in international waters 17 miles offshore, when she was attacked. Some have said in the aftermath that several messages were sent to the Liberty by elements of the Department of Defense urging the ship to move further away from the coast. These messages were not received.
An extensive amount of information, including statements by survivors, is available at the website usslibertyveterans.org.
During interviews, survivors mentioned several disturbing elements of the attack.
- Aircraft overflew the ship the previous day at altitudes as low as 200 feet, some pilots even waving at Liberty crewmen on deck sunning themselves or performing their duties. As early as 5:15 am, photo-recon aircraft displaying the Star of David made numerous passes over the ship. It was later learned that these flights provided the Israeli military with photographic evidence that identified the ship as an American naval vessel.
- The USS Liberty at all times flew a large American flag from the stern. During the surprise attack, members of the crew, while under fire, raised the holiday banner, a much larger American flag, replacing the one at the stern that was shot away . This had no impact on the attackers. In addition to the American flag, the ship’s name was emblazoned in tall white letters on the stern. The ship’s identification numbers were displayed prominently on each side of the bow.
- The insignia of the attacking aircraft had been obliterated.
- Prior to the 2:00 pm attack, all frequencies utilized by the Liberty, including some known only to our allies, were jammed. International distress frequencies were also jammed in violation of international law. All antennae were destroyed in the first attack making it impossible for the Liberty to call for assistance. In the midst of the attack, a crewman, under fire and injured, managed to climb a damaged mast to hang a wire. This enabled the Liberty to make a feeble call for help which was received by the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.
- USS Liberty medical personnel, then on deck administering to wounded, were fired upon by attacking torpedo boats, in violation of international law.
- Two torpedo boats fired a total of 5 torpedoes, only one of which hit the Liberty. This torpedo hit amidships killing 25 NSA personnel at their work stations belowdecks.
- When the ship appeared to be sinking, rubber life rafts were launched. The attacking motor torpedo boats strafed and sunk those life rafts and also fired on life rafts still in their racks, in violation of international law.
- The attacking aircraft dropped napalm on the ship, setting numerous fires which crewmen bravely fought while under withering fire from the torpedo boats.
- Both the USS Saratoga and the USS America launched jet aircraft in response to the reported attack. The aircraft, which were enroute to support the Liberty, were abruptly recalled upon instruction of the U.S. government. This action was in response to learning that the attackers were forces of our “ally” Israel. The aircraft were recalled while the attack on the Liberty was still underway.
The two and one-half hour false-flag event was a vicious, well executed and brutal attack by two squadrons of fighter jets and four torpedo boats, followed by two helicopters manned by assault troops ready to rappel to the decks of the Liberty. This fact alone speaks to the complexity of the planning attributed to and subsequently admitted by elements of the Israeli government. One can only guess if the assault troops were going to “finish off” the surviving crew and sink the Liberty by other means. This adventure was abandoned when a Russian destroyer showed up offering assistance to the Liberty, assistance which was declined.
The Aftermath
Back on the deck of the America, I heard that many of the jet pilots were irate at being recalled. I also heard (scuttlebutt) that some of the jets carried nuclear weapons to be used against whatever nation was attacking the Liberty. Egypt was the first nation to be suspected of attacking our ship. Which nation was supporting Egypt? The USSR.
Remember the photos of the damage to the Liberty? Part of the rudder had been shot away and she listed 10% to starboard. The ship was basically a floating wreck. Despite the fact she was barely seaworthy and a suitable repair facility was located in nearby Cyprus, the ship was ordered to steam half-way across the Mediterranean to the British base at Malta. Once the ship made it to Malta, the British sealed off the facility. No press or civilians were permitted to view or photograph the Liberty or to speak with survivors. Observers that had seen the damaged ship were amazed that when it left Malta it looked like a new ship — all holes repaired. Remarkably, the entire vessel had been repainted in one day. the U.S. and Israel didn’t want the American public to see the extent of the damage done during the attack.
Once in Malta, surviving crew members had one more gruesome duty, to clean out the below-deck compartments, including one where 25 of their shipmates were entombed following their death from the one Israeli torpedo that found its mark. The crew removed 169 black plastic bags filled with water soaked records, damaged equipment and — body parts. There was no DNA in those days so it was impossible to identify some of the human remains removed from the compartment. The bags were then burned in an incinerator.
(Greater details of the attack and its aftermath can be found in an October 30, 2014 Al Jazeera documentary. It is well-sourced with on-camera interviews of survivors and other witnesses knowledgeable about the subsequent cover-up by the U.S. and Israel).
The Coverup
As the Liberty limped to her Cinderella makeover in Malta, the crew of the ship was already doing cleanup. Survivors, many still in shock following the vicious attack, were tasked with removing blood and body parts of their shipmates from the decks so they could operate the ship. As they worked, the coverup of the attack was already underway in Washington, DC and Israel.
“The original plan called for the attack to be blamed on Egypt, and was designed to bring the United States into the war on Israel’s side. When the combined air and sea forces of Israel were unable to sink the Liberty, plan B was adopted. President Johnson quickly came to an agreement with Israeli leadership: the cover-up would be designed around a plan to pronounce it an accident due to Israeli error in misidentifying the ship. Incredibly, the highest-level political and military leaders of the U.S. and Israel proceeded to create a ludicrous cover story that still lives on as the official findings, complete with irreconcilable inconsistencies, impossible anomalies and absurd conclusions.” (“Sacrificing Liberty”, a documentary by TrueHistory Films, Matthew Skow, Director)
Following the attack on the USS Liberty, Israel claimed that their military thought they were attacking the El Quseir, which they described as an military ship. In fact the El Quseir was an aging, rusty Egyptian ship used to transport horses. At the time of the attack the El Quseir was at its moorings at El Arish, a fact apparently unknown or overlooked by the Israelis in their haste to develop a cover story. The El Quseir was 275 feet long, the Liberty 455 feet; the El Quseir was one-fifth the tonnage of the Liberty; and the Egyptian ship had none of the 45 antennae and high tech equipment arrayed on the Liberty’s decks. The Israelis claimed that they attacked the Liberty because it was shelling targets on the Sinai. Their photo recon and patrol planes apparently didn’t observe that the Liberty’s only armaments were defensive and consisted of 4–.50 caliber machine guns, each with a maximum range of only 2200 yards. Israel also claimed that the Liberty was steaming away at over 30 knots making it a legitimate military target. The maximum speed of the Liberty was only 17 knots. Stranger yet, the Egyptian “red herring” ship chosen by the Israelis as a cover was even slower than the Liberty. That Israeli intelligence could have made this “mistake” is inconceivable (laughable?). At the very least they could have looked up the ships in Janes Fighting Ships, the complete listing of the naval vessels of the world (they actually did, and the info was referred to Israeli naval HQ).
In his book “Body of Secrets”, James Bamford, author of several books focused on military and governmental intelligence operations, relates that prior to and during the attack on the Liberty, the U.S. had an intelligence aircraft orbiting at about 15,000 feet over the eastern Mediterranean. The crew of this patrol plane, which included two Hebrew linguists, was listening to and recording every radio transmission made during the attack, including those made by Israeli aircraft, torpedo boats, onshore military commanders and civilians.
The conversations taped during the lead up to and during the actual attack on the Liberty by NSA personnel have been relegated to the deepest and most secret vaults of the NSA. Prior to its classification, some of the information became known, however.
Bamford also writes that the Israelis knew as early as 10:53 am the day of the attack that their target was an American ship. An Israeli naval observer aboard one of the pre-attack Israeli reconnaissance flights, reported this identification to Commander Pinchas Pinchasy, the naval liaison officer at Israeli air force HQ. During interview, Pinchasy stated, “I reported this detection to Naval Headquarters and I imagine that Naval Headquarters received this report from the other channel, from the Air Force ground control, as well.”
One of the Hebrew language specialists aboard the American patrol plane reported that he could hear “them” mentioning an American flag during radio transmissions he was monitoring. Mention of an American flag by participants continued throughout the attack. The “listeners,” however, were only able to determine at the time that Israeli pilots were completing an attack on some object.
“He hit her a lot,” reported an Israeli Army commander at El Arish. “There’s black smoke, there’s an oil slick in the water.” “Menachem, is he screwing her?” headquarters asked one of pilots excitedly.
There was also the record of an Israeli pilot asking at 1:53 pm on the day of the attack about the nationality of the ship. He asked if it was American and received no reply. Another reported the side number of the ship. One actually reported that the ship was American. Even after the Liberty had been positively identified as American and following the devastating air attacks (Al Jazeera documentary), Israeli torpedo boats attacked and killed 25 more Americans. Following the torpedo attack, one of the boats signaled by flashing light in English, “Do you require assistance?” Captain McGonagle responded with flags (all communications had been destroyed) that they should stay clear. Instead the torpedo boats, showing the Star of David insignia, continued their fire from as close as 100 feet, strafing Liberty’s fire fighters, stretcher bearers, medical and rescue personnel. In addition, Israeli gunners sank floating rubber life rafts as well as firing on ones still in racks aboard ship.
The “Official Inquiry”
While in the boatyard at Malta, officious-looking naval officers began to appear and rumors were rampant about an investigation. Coincidentally, some of the more outspoken surviving crewmen suddenly found themselves beneficiaries of free trips to Naples and Rome for “R and R”. No Liberty crewmen were interviewed during the “inquiry” which was hastily concluded after 3 days. In comparison, when the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen 35 years later, the investigation took 6 months. The USS Cole experienced half the deaths sustained by the Liberty.
The surviving members of the Liberty crew and their families were sworn to secrecy and were threated with prosecution under military justice laws if they spoke about the attack. Most survivors wouldn’t even tell their families about it. A survivor’s wife, interviewed for a documentary, said that she was visited by Navy personnel who warned her never to speak of what she knew or was told about the attack. Some members of the crew were transferred to far-flung Naval bases. In the U.S., stories about the incident were quashed and the incident hushed up.
After admonishing the crew to keep quiet, our government then went on to deceive the American public regarding the attack itself. They lied about its length and intensity. Consistent with Israeli claims of an accidental attack, the U.S. administration downplayed the extent of Israel’s aerial surveillance as well as the nature and severity of the incident. The official story was that the Liberty had been reconnoitered only three times and from a great distance. The American public was told the air attack lasted only 5 minutes followed by a single torpedo. They assured Americans that the “mistaken” attack by Israel was followed by an immediate apology and an offer of assistance. Nothing was further from the truth.
A couple of cursory inquiries were conducted by the U.S. military but none delved into the “why” of the attack or brought the probe to Israel. Naval investigators’ requests to carry their inquiries to Israel were denied by U.S. authorities. Congress held no public hearings, and most of the investigations took the path of least resistance, the one onto which they were pushed by the White House — the one agreed to with the Liberty’s attacker — Israel.
Insult to Injury
Following the recall of the fighter aircraft sent to defend the Liberty, Admiral Lawrence R. Geis (then onboard the USS America), commander of the U.S. carrier forces in the Mediterranean, was angry and complained in a call to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. Admiral Geis later told the head of the NSA group on the Liberty in strictest confidence what happened during that call. He said that “President Johnson got on the line and made a comment that he didn’t care if the ship sunk, he would not embarrass his allies.” This information was only revealed following Admiral Geis’s death.
Captain McGonagle was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. This esteemed award is normally awarded in public by the President of the United States. In McGonagle’s case, however, the award was presented by the Secretary of the Navy at a private ceremony conducted at the Washington Naval Yard. A naval officer involved with the award ceremony later told a Liberty survivor that our State Department had actually asked the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. if his government had any objection to Captain McGonagle receiving this medal. He replied, “Certainly not.” Israel was not mentioned anywhere in Captain McGonagle’s award citation. Imagine asking the country responsible for the attack on his ship, whether they “minded” if the surviving Captain received a medal for his heroism.
In contrast, Israel lauded the crew of the torpedo boat that scored the hit on the Liberty, the one that killed 25 Americans. The torpedo boat was honored with its bell and wheel being installed in an Israeli naval museum.
Later, towards the end of his life, Captain William McGonagle, Captain, USS Liberty stated, “In many years, I had wanted to believe that the attack on the Liberty was pure error. It appears to me that it was not a pure case of mistaken identity. I think that it’s about time that the state of Israel and the United States government provide the crewmembers of the Liberty, and the rest of the American people, the facts of what happened, and why it came about that the Liberty was attacked.”
The U.S. government asked Israel for a token $7.6 Million in payment for the physical damage inflicted on the USS Liberty (on which the U.S. had spent $30 Million in sophisticated intelligence equipment and refitting alone). Despite this modest amount, Israel fought the request for 13 years. Over the years, an additional $10 Million in interest had accrued but Israel finally was able to get the settlement of the damages they caused down to only $6 Million which was paid in the closing days of the Carter administration.
After its return to the United States, the Liberty languished for many years and was subsequently scrapped for salvage for a little over $100,000.
The Public Outcry
According to documents obtained for the book “Body of Secrets”, the senior leadership of the NSA, officials who had unique access to the secret tapes and other highly classified evidence, was virtually unanimous in their belief that the attack was deliberate.
Walter Deeley, appointed by the NSA to head a senior task force investigating the attack, came to the eventual conclusion that, “There is no way they didn’t know that the Liberty was American.” NSA Director Marshall Carter agreed. “There is no other answer than that it was deliberate”, he told the author of Body of Secrets. Carter asked that this statement be kept confidential; it was only released following his death.
“I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink the Liberty precluded an assault by accident or by some trigger-happy local commander. Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn’t believe them then, and I don’t believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.” U.S. Sec’y of State Dean Rusk.
“Israel’s leaders concluded that nothing they might do would offend the Americans to the point of reprisal. If America’s leaders did not have the courage to punish Israel for the blatant murder of American citizens, it seemed clear that their American friends would let them get away with almost anything.” U.S. Under Secretary of State George W. Ball
“Those sailors who were wounded, who were eye witnesses, have not been heard from by the American public…[Their story] leaves no doubt but that this was a premeditated, carefully reconnoitered attack by Israeli aircraft against our ship.” U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III
“I have never believed that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of mistaken identity. That is ridiculous. Israel knew perfectly well that the ship was American. After all, the Liberty’s American flag and markings were in full view in perfect visibility for the Israeli aircraft that overflew the ship eight times over a period of nearly eight hours prior to the attack. I have to conclude that it was Israel’s intent to sink the Liberty and leave as few survivors as possible.” Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, U.S. Navy (ret.)
“Few in Washington could believe that the ship had not been identified as an American naval vessel. There could be no doubt that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty.” Central Intelligence Agency Director Richard Helms
“It is just exceedingly difficult to believe that USS Liberty was not correctly identified. No NSA official could be found who dissented from the ‘deliberate’ conclusion.” Director, NSA, Admiral Bobby Ray Inman
“I can tell you for an absolute certainty [from intercepted communications] that they knew they were attacking an American ship.” Deputy Director, NSA, Oliver Kirby.
Survivors’ Quest for Justice
For the past 56 years, survivors and the families of the Israeli attack as well the families of the dead have petitioned our government in the most civil and respectful terms for a reopening of the investigation into the attack on the Liberty. Each and every plea has gone ignored and unanswered. Funds are currently being raised from the public to help sustain their continuing efforts for justice and recognition of their suffering. Each year, some of them die and the rest “soldier on.” To assist them financially in this worthy endeavor, please visit https://ussliberty.com.
Sourcing
Holocaust on the High Seas by Phillip F. Tourney. Rock Star Publishing, copyright 2020. Mr. Tourney is Liberty survivor and past president of the USS Liberty Veterans Association.
Various Newsletters, USS Liberty Veterans Association, by permission.
Body of Secrets by James Bamford, First Anchor Books, copyright 2001/2002, by permission. In particular: Chapter 6 (Ears) and Chapter 7 (Blood). Mr. Bamford is an accomplished author specializing in intelligence matters. He is an authority on the National Security Agency, its successes, excesses, failures and missteps.
Sacrificing Liberty, by TruHistory Films, a documentary directed by Matthew Skow. It reveals recently uncovered information, new interviews as well as provocative theories for the attack. Watch the trailer on YouTube or purchase the documentary by visiting SacrificingLiberty.com.
The Day Israel Attacked America, an Al Jazeera documentary directed by Richard Belfield. Watch on YouTube.
