The Amberjack was far from the spy ship when the attack occurred. The names of the 34 men who gave their lives: CT3 William… Raouf J. Halaby is a Professor Emeritus of English and Art. The ecosystem was fantastic, and every dive had They worked as a team and were separate from most of the crew, reporting to the commanding officer, Commander Augustine Hubel. Dr. Anthony Wells is the third chairman of the USS Liberty Alliance, succeeding the late Admiral Thomas Moorer and the late Rear Admiral Clarence “Mark” Hill. Search NSA CSS: Search. She arrived at Malta on 14 June. One such ship was the USS Liberty, a Belmont class research ship commissioned on the 1stDecember 1964. The Soviet Union, whose only proxy state in the Middle East was Syria, was looking to gain access to Egyptian ports and to create a pro-Soviet entente with Egypt via arms sales and trade. These could not have been from the Liberty on 8 June because the Amberjack was nowhere in the vicinity of the spy ship. As a result, Robert McNamara earned the permanent opprobrium of the U.S. Navy for his countermanding of direct support to the stricken spy ship, which was under fire with heavy casualties. Since June 8, 1967 American taxpayers have shelled out billions upon billions of dollars to Israel compliments of Democrat and Republican politicians. National Security Agency Central Security Service Search. USSLibertyDocumentCenter.org, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Details of the attack were hushed up in both countries. The USS Liberty was 13 miles off the coast of Gaza and moving slowly at five knots. A nation that selectively and dishonorably turns it back on its servicemen and servicewomen (every president since Lyndon Johnson, pentagon brass, and thousands of Congressional jackasses bought with AIPAC money) is a nation that has lost its soul. Experts agree that Israel’s deliberate attack had two motives: 1. EMBED (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item tags) Want more? If you come to Bali, you absolutely have to dive there The liberty ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo then was beached near Tulamben. [69] In July, the Liberty returned home to Norfolk where she was denied funds to restore her intelligence capabilities and subsequently decommissioned. By June 13 the USS America had arrived in Malta to transfer the seriously injured to the hospital. The technical research ship USS Liberty arrives at Valletta, Malta, having been attacked by Israeli aircraft and torpedo vessels in the Mediterranean, 8th June 1967. Credit: Getty Images The Makings of History / Myth vs. plot The Truth Is Revealed. When it was all said and done over two hours later, 34 American sailors were killed and 174 wounded, many severely burned from the napalm explosives provided by the United States. The USS Amberjack, as seen in her Cold War guise without her original deck guns. Meanwhile, in top secret diplomatic mail, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk accused the Israelis of demonstrating “blatant disregard for human life” and said that the attack was no accident. Get premium, high resolution news photos at … Only then did the identity of the assailants become known. Her keel was laid down on 23 February 1945, under a Maritime Commission contract at Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Oregon. Commander James Ennes’ autographed book, The Assault on the Liberty (Random House, 1980), is one of the most prized books that grace my book shelf. 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EMBED. For almost two hours the hushed audience listened to the decorated Lt. Has Trump Already Been Removed as Commander in Chief? There have been controversial interpretations of events associated with the Amberjack’s movements, but what actually happened is significant because, in some cases, theoretical misrepresentations of events have stained the honor of a U.S. submarine. The crew had observed several flyovers by Israeli reconnaissance planes earlier in the day. The role of the diesel electric submarine USS Amberjack (SS-522) during the June 1967 Six-Day War–and specifically at the time of the Israeli attack on the spy ship USS Liberty (AGTR-5) on 8 June–has elicited considerable interest from many quarters. The Amberjack’s conning officer sighted smoke coming from the exhaust of the Tanin’s diesels. On 5 June, Israel’s preemptive strikes led to the immediate destruction of all significant Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian air power. What is the “Public Option?” Can It Compete With Private Health Insurers? USS Liberty (AGTR-5) Underway in Chesapeake Bay, 29 July 1967, upon her return from the Mediterranean Sea. After a port visit in Naples, the Amberjack proceeded to her collection station off the Egyptian coast. He felt underwhelmed when orders took them off the Egyptian coast, being aware that his knowledge of the Egyptian Navy was not in the same league as his knowledge of the Soviet Fifth Operational Squadron. You’d think that having spent years in a Hanoi prison he’d had empathy for his fellow servicemen. USS Carney also became the first US Navy ship to moor in Valletta since 2014. In 1967, U.S. national strategic interests drove the approach by President Lyndon B. Johnson and his key cabinet members and national security advisers to the growing Middle East crisis that culminating in the 1967 war. The damaged, yet defiant, USS Liberty hobbles to Malta, where crew is threatened into silence... beginning the cover up on most decorated single naval encounter in American history August 2020. Taylor still recalls that all the highly classified information and recordings for which he was responsible had “Top Secret Not Automatically downgraded” markings. Sonar Technician First Class Taylor originally had thought that the boat’s secret orders would take them into the Black Sea to monitor the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Photo: US Navy. The Israelis were worried that the American spy ship would discover their killing of hundreds of Egyptian prisoners of war in the Sinai. As the Liberty was in Abidjan at the time and could get to the Mediterranean in two weeks, it was dispatched. When Israel commits murderous acts and in typical Israeli fashion, their hasbara machine goes into overdrive; they initially hoped to pin the blame on Egypt. Like father like son, till the end of his life John McCain remained an ardent supporter of Israel. He privately and personally may support Israel’s goals to gain greater security by extending by military force its boundaries, but this never went further, and certainly not to point of publicly telling the Israeli government that the United States would support any unprovoked aggressive acts by Israel against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Liberty vessel would arrive the following day for repairs. She’d be decommissioned in 1968. So, let us examine the Amberjack’s actual movements and operations. Before USS Liberty arrived in the area, U.S. Sixth Fleet Commander Admiral William Martin promised to provide air support within ten minutes if an emergency arose. In addition, other sources have suggested the outrageous notion that the 303 Committee back in Washington, which reviewed and authorized U.S. clandestine operations, masterminded the Liberty attack in order to pin the strike on Egypt and allow the United States to attack that country. The United States had zero national interest or motivation to be directly or indirectly involved in a war against Egypt or to be drawn into a conflict by either direct overt actions of Israel’s government or covert and clandestine activities of Israel’s Mossad and those who controlled its operations. The official version is that the Liberty was reconnoitered only three times and then only from great distance. The Liberty was not a spy vessel because it proudly flew the U.S. flag, and was readily identifiable to any observer at sea. The electronics ship, worth $40 million, had to be scrapped. In all, 34 Americans lost their lives in what Wikipedia delicately calls the USS Liberty Incident; another 170-plus were injured, while the Liberty herself limped back to Malta for repairs. “We are thankful for the hospitality of our Maltese hosts,” said […] The attack lasted more than two hours — killing 34 Americans and wounding 174 others — and inflicted 821 rocket and machine-gun holes. Nichole Stephens, Administrative Assistant. Four missed. The key point remains that the Johnson administration had zero wish or intent to be drawn into a conflict with Egypt or Syria. In 1967, the United States was extremely mindful that Israel, by direct aggression, could create a scenario in which it would draw the United States into a conflict that it could neither completely control nor predict the outcome. And even though numerically the dead and wounded American servicemen numbered in the hundreds instead thousands, June 8, 1967 is as heinous a date of infamy as the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the 9/11 attacks on New York, the Pentagon, and “Flight 93.”. Admiral McCain, John McCain’s father, ordered two U.S. jet fighters dispatched (to stop Israel’s carnage) from an American aircraft carrier in the waters of the Western Mediterranean to return to base – thus leaving the USS Liberty and her crew at the mercy of bloodthirsty Israeli pilots and sailors. When the USS Liberty was struck, it was struck with an awesome force. Included are reports by former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas Moorer, plus coauthor Anthony Wells’ 1976–77 interviews with former Secretary of State Dean Rusk. “Ah! USS Liberty was a Belmont-class technical research ship that was attacked by Israel Defense Forces during the 1967 Six-Day War. The record shows the nature of the deliberate attack on the Liberty, how and why it happened, and that Israel’s prime minister and foreign minister had no knowledge of the attack until after the event. Taylor and his team were listening in international waters at periscope depth. Ennes’s detailed narrative of the malevolent napalm fiery strafing and large caliber bullets (over 800), the bloody carnage, the painful cries of dying and wounded sailors, and the United States Government’s shameful cover up left his audience shocked, dismayed, angry, and, like the young man at the end of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Ennis left his audience “a sadder and wiser man [audience].”, In lines 139-142 Coleridge paints a perennially powerful image of the dead Albatross (killed by the Mariner). Trump, the American Dream and the Frontier. 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He was equally incensed by the fact that his book kept disappearing from university and public library shelves, including metropolitan bookstores – coast to coast. Where did the U.S. Sixth Fleet Submarine Force—specifically the movement and operations of the Amberjack—fit into this evolving situation? And when the Liberty stubbornly remained afloat despite her damage, Israeli forces machine-gunned her life rafts and sent troop-carrying helicopters in to finish the job. Crew members managed to patch a 40-foot hole in the hull so that the ship could make its way to Malta for further repairs. The Amberjack’s primary sonar was an AN/BQR-2B. This, even as dire economic conditions loom heavy on the horizon. Seven out of every 10 crew members was either killed or injured. The USS Liberty Wreck is the most famous dive site in Bali. USS Liberty (AGTR-5) At Valletta, Malta, after arriving for repair of damages received when she was attacked by Israeli forces off the Sinai Peninsula on 8 June 1967. President Johnson did have pro-Israeli leanings and his Texas support base had historically included pro-Israeli Jews. After having acquired a special fit welded to her bow and additional hydrophones fitted her superstructure, the Amberjack sailed to Rota, Spain. Naval Institute Photo Archive). The crew of US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) concluded the first port call of their forward-deployed patrol, departing Valletta, Malta, on December 12. Photo: US Navy. The submarine had no recordings of the Israeli Air Force’s attack on the Liberty. The sub carried Mark 37 torpedoes, primarily for homing in on surface ship propellers, and Mark 16s, which were used to complete such an attack. (U.S. (US Navy photo) Warplanes and torpedo boats had already killed 34 and wounded 174, when Halbardier slid over the Liberty’s napalm-glazed deck to jury-rig an antenna and get an SOS off to the Sixth Fleet. In 1982 I had the privilege of attending a standing-room only presentation by James Ennes. USS Liberty Pierside Malta. Sixth Fleet, maneuvering hundreds of miles distant. To honor the memory of all the deceased and the service of the surviving USS Liberty ship, please observe two minutes of silence. Secretary McNamara’s Sixth Fleet aircraft recall was made because he was worried that Cairo may be inadvertently attacked. Caught in the bloody act by US intelligence, what followed was/is a national betrayal never witnessed on this scale. Yes, the Albatross of Shame hangs shamefully over the NSA (National Security Agency) and every single American Governmental agency (involved in the cover up) and their staff for keeping a tight lid on the findings. However, this backdrop did not influence or control the primary strategic concerns that his two key cabinet members—Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara—together with CIA Director Richard Helms and National Security Advisor Walt Rostow, brought to bear on the President’s thinking and decision making. June 8, 1967 stands as yet another “date of infamy” in the annals of American history. 20 Years of the War on Terror. USS Liberty (AGTR-5) underway in Chesapeake Bay, 29 July 1967, upon her return from the Mediterranean Sea. Later evidence suggested that the Amberjack’s contact was sound and that the Tanin may have been executing a clandestine operation to launch Israeli commandos into Alexandria Harbor. Captain Hubel much later swore an affidavit that stated in paragraph 4: “on June 8, 1967 USS Amberjack (SS522) was not within 100 miles of the USS Liberty or its approximate position 31-23N, 33-25 E.”1, The shattered USS Liberty limps toward the port of Valletta, Malta, after she was attacked by Israeli air and naval forces on 8 June 1967. The contact was submerged and snorkeling (running her diesel engines to recharge her batteries), with the boat’s snorkel mast above the surface. Coleridge’s dead Albatross symbolizes human frailty and man’s evil  nature. USS Liberty being towed to Malta after being attack by Israel air and naval forces. On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked our proud naval ship — the USS Liberty — killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 172. Toggle navigation. Israel claimed that her forces mistook USS Liberty for an Egyptian ship, and our government publicly accepted that excuse despite evidence to the contrary. / Instead of the cross, the Albatross / About my neck was hung.” To the Israelis, Coleridge’s words (line 101) ring so true: “Twas right, said they, such birds [ship] to slay.”. Israel apologized and paid compensation to the victims’ families. Navy photo; Retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Getty Images. Israel paid “compensation” of $6 million. Denied a memorial to honor them and to commemorate their tragedy and “forbidden under oath to tell their story to the American people,” the survivors have established an online site that can be reached by googling “USS Liberty Memorial.”  Additional information is available in the James M. Ennes Manuscript Collection, a 14.8 linear foot (37 manuscript boxes) at the Hoover institution, and Allison Weir’s outstanding IFAmericansKnew Blog. With a crew of 10 officers and 71 enlisted men, plus special sea riders, the Amberjack was well armed with ten torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, and 28 torpedoes. This was different from his normal procedure to annotate his tapes “Top Secret, Automatically downgraded after 25 years.”. (U.S. USS Liberty Moving into Malta Drydock After Israeli Attack Movies Preview remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. Until and unless the 34 dead American sailors, the 174 wounded American wounded sailors, and the many who have died since that 1967 infamous day are recognized for their valor and sacrifice, and until their grievances are redressed, the Albatross of Shame will hang heavy over all the cowardly characters who wave the American flag and prostitute their principles; this includes the media, starting with Israel’s mouthpiece, The New York Times, and coconspirators FOXNEWS, CNN, MSNBC and other tribal wannabe news outlets. 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