Victims of 1967 Attack Honored, Israeli Motives Still Uninvestigated

By James M. Ennes, Jr.

Twenty-four years have passed since Israeli jets and motor torpedo boats attacked the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, the fourth day of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. Thirty four Americans died and 171 were wounded, some maimed for life. Yet the official lid on this story remains almost as tight as the day it was first applied.

Most senior US government officials long ago conceded publicly that the attack was no accident. This year, for instance, former Secretary of State Dean Rusk wrote in his memoirs: "I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. 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." Others have made similar public statements.

“I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation.”

Yet despite such strong opinions of key leaders, not a single person while still in government has ever made any apparent effort to set the record straight.

Even the Navy now admits that the attack was never fully investigated. The four-day Navy inquiry was restricted to internal naval matters, leaving to Congress the vital question of whether or not Israel deliberately attacked a ship it knew to be American. Congress shirked its responsibility, leaving the vital questions unresolved.

Yet Americans do not forget. The USS Liberty remains a frequent topic of talk shows, editorials, and letters to editors. This year VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) magazine reminded members in a two-page article that the VFW's call for a national monument honoring the USS Liberty has never been answered.

Predictably, the VFW came under fire for its stance. Although no one at the magazine will admit they yielded to the pressure, the magazine did cancel a major feature on the Liberty that had been planned, as well as an official VFW program to urge Congress to reinvestigate the attack.

Individuals continue to speak out in a variety of ways. This year, survivors of the attack were surprised to see full-page memorial ads published in both Naval Affairs, the magazine of the US Navy Fleet Reserve Association, and in The Retired Officer Magazine.

Both ads, we learned, had been quietly designed and paid for by retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer Charles Campbell of Prescott, Arizona. Mr. Campbell explained that the ads were his way of expressing his strong feelings about the attack and the sacrifice of the ship's crew.

For the past several months, the pages of the Phoenix (AZ) Gazette have rumbled with editorial calls for a congressional inquiry into the attack. As usual, apologists for Israel complain of "ulterior motives" and send delegations to confer with the editorial staff. Yet the discussions continue, despite such efforts to squelch the debate.

A "Non-combat" Incident?

This year survivors learned for the first time that the 34 men who died in the attack are officially regarded by the United States as having died in a "non-combat" incident despite the fact that combat awards, including the Medal of Honor, were given. Because of that erroneous listing, we discovered, names of two of the ship's officers killed in the attack, Stephen Toth and Philip Armstrong, had been barred from the honor roll of US Naval Academy alumni who have given their lives for their country.

With help from two good friends of the USS Liberty Veterans Association, Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Rear Admiral Robert Garrick, the names were added to the honor roll. The struggle required many months, many people, and considerable effort, due to political and diplomatic obstacles that arose at every turn. Meanwhile, steps are being taken to correct the official records of all the victims who died in the attack to show that they died in combat.

Navy Training Building Named In Memory of Liberty Sailor

Recently, when officers of the US Naval Training Command at San Diego sought a name for the new weapons training building for vertical launch weapons, they asked the Department of the Navy for suggestions.

"The name of the USS Liberty kept appearing on all the lists," officers of the training command told us. Soon the Navy decided to name the building in memory of Gunners Mate Alexander Neil Thompson, Jr., who died firing his 50-caliber machine gun at Israeli jets from a gun mount on the ship's forecastle.

The building was dedicated July 20, 1990, in a ceremony attended by Liberty's Captain William McGonagle, the Thompson family, and several surviving the members of the USS Liberty. Local television covered the event on the evening news, including an interview with Captain McGonagle. Typically, the news broadcast managed to avoid any mention of the attack, its perpetrator, or even of the USS Liberty itself.

Electronic Liberty

This was also the year the USS Liberty Forum, a computerized discussion of the attack and cover-up, became available to 40 countries, including Israel. Joe Meadors, the dynamic chairman of the Liberty Veterans Association, has for years sponsored discussions of the subject on his computer bulletin board in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Now anyone almost anywhere in the world with a computer and a "modem" (needed to connect to telephone lines) can participate in the discussions, usually at no cost, by calling a local telephone number. For a number in your area, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Joe Meadors, USS Liberty, 3 Burns Avenue, Hicksville, NY 11801.

Museum Memorial

Finally, this was the year that Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum at Frankenmuth, Michigan, remembered the USS Liberty with double honors.

The Museum, dedicated to the memory of Michigan veterans, is the largest museum of its type in the world, receiving over 21/4 million visitors every year. After moving to new $300,000 quarters, Museum Director Stan Bozich invited USS Liberty survivors to submit artifacts and memorabilia for display.

In November, USS Liberty survivors and family, including Jack Beatty from East Detroit and Philip Armstrong III from Virginia, joined military, city, and Michigan state officials in dedicating a new USS Liberty display, as well as a memorial stone placed near the museum flagpole.

The display tells the story of the attack and preserves Liberty artifacts. Included are uniforms and the Navy Cross won posthumously by Liberty's valiant executive officer, Philip Armstrong II, and other items in memory of Curtis Graves. Both men died in the attack. Also honored by the display are Michigan residents Jack Beatty, George Wilson and Robert Dye, all of whom were wounded in the attack.

The memorial stone, now on prominent display on the museum's main walkway, was originally created by Liberty supporters in nearby Flint, Michigan. It was intended for display in Veterans Park in Flint, but became available for Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum after Flint city officials, fearing controversy, refused permission to install the stone in their city. Now, thanks to Michigan's Own Museum, the memorial will be viewed by many more people than would have seen it in Flint.

James Ennes retired from the Navy in 1978 as a lieutenant commander after 27 years of enlisted and commissioned service. He was a lieutenant on the bridge of the USS Liberty on the day of the attack. His book on the subject, Assault on the Liberty (Random House, 1980), was "editor's choice" when reviewed in The Washington Post. It is available through the AET Book Club.