I totally forgot about this until I saw this article. I was a junior in high school when it happened.

https://www.militarytimes.com/...under-friendly-fire/

Valor Friday: This Navy captain received the Medal of Honor for heroism under friendly fire

By: J.D. Simkins   1 day ago

June 8, 1967 began as a routine day for the Belmont-class technical research ship USS Liberty as it sailed through international waters of the Mediterranean Sea. That afternoon, however, all hell broke loose.

With the Six-Day War between Israel and several Arab nations getting underway only days earlier, tension was running high in the region. When Israeli forces spotted the Liberty, the long-time U.S. ally mistakenly believed it to be an enemy ship — and they responded swiftly, sending fighter jets and motor torpedo boats to pummel the unsuspecting ship.

By the time the carnage ended and the last shots were fired, 34 of Liberty’s crew were dead. Another 171 were injured and the ship was crippled.

Amidst the friendly fire barrage, Capt. William Loren McGonagle, commander of the Liberty, was badly injured. But despite his wounds, he refused to abandon the badly damaged bridge of the ship, disregarding his own health to maneuver the vessel, coordinate defense measures, control flooding and fire, and see to the medical care of his sailors.

McGonagle was later presented the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

Even “in great pain and weak from the loss of blood, Captain McGonagle remained at his battle station and continued to command his ship for more than 17 hours,” his citation read.

It was only when Liberty finally received assistance from a U.S. destroyer that McGonagle finally relinquished control of the battered bridge. Even then, he resisted treatment until knowing all his sailors had been attended to, his citation said.

Israel apologized for the mistake, claiming that it believed the Liberty to be an Egyptian vessel.

Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the attack and Israel’s subsequent embarrassment, McGonagle’s ceremony was conducted in secret to avoid further humiliation.

The ship’s executive officer, who was killed in the incident, was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

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Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the attack and Israel’s subsequent embarrassment, McGonagle’s ceremony was conducted in secret to avoid further humiliation.

When you suffer losses of 34 killed and 171 wounded, worrying about further humiliating those responsible, ally though they be, is absurd.

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...the long-time U.S. ally mistakenly believed it to be an enemy ship...

Bullshit

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Originally posted by FRANKT:

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...the long-time U.S. ally mistakenly believed it to be an enemy ship...

Bullshit

Exactly. They new what they were doing and who they were doing it to.

Our greatest ally

Yeah. The Liberty log books showed they were over flown repeatedly all day by Israeli air crews. They even flew so low they were waving to the pilots. Then they were attacked by Mirages jets, torpedo boats and then later Mystere jets. Nope. Nope. Nope. No way this was an accident.

If you're not familiar with the story of this unprovoked attack, this book makes for great reading. It WILL piss you off.

https://www.amazon.com/Assault...ds=attack+on+liberty

Why does the NSA and UK's GCHQ still keep their involvement and knowledge "secret"?

I find it more troubling and offensive that our government would not provide as mush clarity as National Security could allow, no matter how much crap is on our (the U.S.) face.

It is disingenuous to the memory of the men lost, those who survived, and their families, to allow vitriol to be levied against Israel alone.

We make great protestations against the "media", "journalists" and such, for their blatant dishonesty in the reporting, as well as outright suppression of information in order to bias and influence the opinion and positions of people, yet somehow in all of this, Israel alone is the bad guy?

Hell, lifelong married folks keep "secrets" and do not "come clean" on every thing that otherwise is a serious blow to the relationship.

Israel is one of the strongest ally America has. No means perfect, and no surprise that they will look out for themselves first.

Does not America, or any other do any less for themselves?

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Originally posted by mrmoneybags:
Our greatest ally

Speak up and make clear your position on this, if you will. Do you have a strong grasp on your line and pole, or just tossing bait overboard to stir up some action?

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Originally posted by gw3971:

quote:

Originally posted by FRANKT:

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...the long-time U.S. ally mistakenly believed it to be an enemy ship...

Bullshit

Exactly. They new what they were doing and who they were doing it to.

Okay then why? If they did it on purpose, what was the point? I'm not mad or defensive, as I wasn't alive during that time, and have no extensive knowledge of the incident. I seriously want to know why the controversy?

So if not an accident, what was the goal of the attack? Sink the USS Liberty and blame the Egyptians in hopes of dragging the US into the war?

Regardless of the circumstances of the attack, it wasn’t “Israel” that conducted it. It was ordered by specific men, most of whom are undoubtedly long dead, or as a minimum are no longer in the positions of authority that they held then. It makes as much sense to be angry with the nation of Israel today for that incident as it does to be angry with the nations of Japan and Germany for what their leadership and men did in World War II, or to be angry with the United Kingdom for what Englishmen did in 1775. What should count today is what the leaders and people of those nations do today in support of our national interests and goals.

I find the reason for incident as much as a mystery today as the day I heard about it on the radio. I’d be very interested in learning what truly prompted the attack, but until then I’m limited to speculation. The most plausible explanation to me is that the Israelis believed the ship was intercepting their communications and passing them onto their enemies, or were prepared to do so. Lest we forget, in 1967 Israel was more alone than today (if possible) and even the US government was full of people who had no love for Judaism, Israel, or Zionism. There was little, if any, sense here of their being a truly useful ally. There were also many people here who feared the loss of Arab oil much more than the possible fate of that small country. Many of us cheered the Israeli success in the war, but much of that was more due to anti-Arabism than any preexisting love for Israel itself. When I think back about the time, I realize that I hardly knew anything about the country before the war started.

It’s very likely that the Israelis had reason to believe that the ship posed a threat to their operations in which they were literally fighting for their very lives and existence. Whether there was any valid basis for that belief I have no way of knowing, but nothing else really makes any sense.

Blaming all of Israel for what some did is in it's nature, collective condemnation. Collective condemnation is the nucleus of genocide. Have you noticed recently how much collective and intergenerational condemnation is practiced by people of both political sides and too many across the middle? You blacks....... You whites.... You Jews.... You men...... You women..... You gun people...... guilt by association seems to be everywhere. Yet our judicial system is individual. Our eternal salvation is individual. This trend is destructive and will be the root of great suffering if we don't learn to reject it.

Had a friend and co-worker who was a petty officer on board during this event. Told me the crew was ordered to keep their mouths shut as they returned to the States.

Addendum: Found his statement. He was a CTSN at the time and was awarded the Bronze Star: http://usslibertyveterans.org/...%20Allan%20Hurst.pdf

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
Blaming all of Israel for what some did is in it's nature, collective condemnation. Collective condemnation is the nucleus of genocide. Have you noticed recently how much collective and intergenerational condemnation is practiced by people of both political sides and too many across the middle? You blacks....... You whites.... You Jews.... You men...... You women..... You gun people...... guilt by association seems to be everywhere. Yet our judicial system is individual. Our eternal salvation is individual. This trend is destructive and will be the root of great suffering if we don't learn to reject it.

Well said.

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Originally posted by gw3971:

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Originally posted by FRANKT:

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...the long-time U.S. ally mistakenly believed it to be an enemy ship...

Bullshit

Exactly. They new what they were doing and who they were doing it to.

Agree, going for a Lusitania replay. What would the US response be if it wasn't sunk by the Jews?

I don’t blame Israel as a whole for this - every country makes mistakes; we have plenty on our side of the ledger.

However, I wish several of the men who knowingly attacked a US ship would have met their end under a volley of AIM-7s from USN F-4s.

Fair is fair, after all.

The Israelis knew the Egyptians were monitoring Liberty’s comms and couldn’t risk her telegraphing observation details. hence she was attacked.

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
...Collective condemnation is the nucleus of genocide...

Or the sine qua non, at least. Agreed, very well said!

This is a fascinating incident. Must read into it more.

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Originally posted by CQB60:
The Israelis knew the Egyptians were monitoring Liberty’s comms and couldn’t risk her telegraphing observation details. hence she was attacked.

Seems to me a phone call could have remedied the situation as well or better.

"The Egyptians are listening. Get your ship the fuck out of here." Or...words to that effect.

I've long wondered the real reason behind this attack. "Fog of war" perhaps? Who knows? I think those who do are either dead or will be soon.

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Originally posted by mrmoneybags:
Our greatest ally

Yes - that's right. Israel IS our greatest ally.

We (USA) had better ALWAYS support Israel - I know I always will. There's no greater indication of someone's utter ignorance about world history than anyone who speaks negatively about Israel.