“We are accountable for our actions and take responsibility for our decisions, practicing wise stewardship of public resources and placing prudent judgment over expediency.” One of NSA’s Core Values
by Joe Meadors
Can someone explain the actions of the NSA on June 8, 1967?
They turned on their recorders for a few minutes then turned them off only to turn them back on for a few minutes and turn them off only to turn them on for a few minutes then turn them off. https://t.co/6BqE1fISXy
And nobody has asked why.
Until now–to both issues.
Why the intermittent recording of the actions of the Sixth Fleet on June 8, 1967?
If the recording was not intermittent, why release only 51 minutes and why release recordings of helicopter pilots after the attack?
They released recordings that appear to support our claim that our flag was flying and visible to the helicopters and the machine gunned life rafts were visible floating astern of the ship.
If anyone alleges a coverup, why release tape excerpts that suggests the opposite?
“. . . our nation is indebted to the brave men and women in uniform — and their families — who sacrificed blood and treasure to answer the call of their country. Their sacrifice should never be forgotten.” Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX27) Email 8/20/2021
by Joe Meadors
Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX27)
I will be the first to admit that in creating the title for this blog post I am taking the position of my Congressman—Michael Cloud (R-TX27)—grossly out of context.
Indeed, it is exactly opposite what his position is.
Not only his, but a position proudly held by every Member of Congress who served during the attack as well as every Member of Congress who has served since the attack.
The USS Liberty Veterans Association represents the survivors of the June 8, 1967, Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, our families and the families of 34 of our shipmates who were killed in action during that attack.
Among the awards won by the officers and crew of the USS Liberty are the Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses, eleven Silver Stars, twenty Bronze Stars, nine Navy Commendations, 208 Purple Hearts, 294 Combat Action Ribbons, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Battle Efficiency “E” which makes the USS Liberty the most decorated ship in US Navy history for a single event since the end of World War II.
A dubious honorific the attack on our ship has is it is the only attack on a US Navy ship since the end of World War II NOT investigated by Congress.
The Congressional Research Service took that considerably further when they told us their research did not reveal a single US government investigation of the attack.
CRS Response to Congressional Investigation of USS Liberty Attack
Most Americans share our concern that the US government has not investigated the attack and want to know what they can do to ensure not only the attack is investigated but also the refusal of the US government to investigate the attack.
The simple answer is to Click Here to send a letter to your Congressional Delegation telling them to investigate the attack.
In doing so, you will be a participant in US Navy History. No other crew of a US Navy ship had to lobby the US government to investigate the attack on their ship.
Welcome to everyone who becomes a participant in USS Liberty history. You are joining with a crew that does not know the meaning of defeat.
On June 8, 1967, we defeated the most powerful military in the Middle East.
We now set our sights on defeating an uncaring Congress. You’re invited to join with us.
USS Liberty: Why Investigate the Attack on a US Navy Ship?
Congressional investigations of the attacks on the USS Pueblo, USS Stark and USS Cole as well as the 1982 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut were initiated almost immediately following each of those attacks.
The Israeli’s attacked the USS Liberty over 19,100 days ago with no Congressional investigation in sight.
What effect has Congress’ refusal to investigate the attack on the USS Liberty had on the survivors of the attack, our families and the families of our 34 fallen shipmates?
Do Members of Congress even care? Hint: No!
by Joe Meadors
We’ve been approached by a staff member of a Member of Congress who solicited my input to be presented to his boss regarding the attack on the USS Liberty and the possibility of a Congressional investigation of the attack.
In my email response to him I addressed the questions he posed as well as a question posed in an attachment he included. To paraphrase his main question, “The attack happened over 52 years ago, why investigate the attack in the first place and why investigate now?”
My response follows:
Thank you for reaching out to me.
To get directly to the questions you asked.
No Member of Congress (now or previous) has ever indicated an interest in a Congressional investigation of the attack on our ship. In fact, they are so averse to anything USS Liberty that no Member of Congress has ever attended the annual memorial service we hold in Washington, DC. Proof that Members of Congress perform a litmus test to determine whether or not the sacrifice of American KIA’s are worth publicly honoring.
I know of nothing in the Constitution or statutes that requires Congress to conduct an investigation of the attack.
That said, historically Congress has investigated all attacks on a US Navy ship since the end of World War II. The attacks on the USS Pueblo, USS Stark and USS Cole have all been the subject of a Congressional investigation. As have been the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut and the attack on the SS Mayaguez.
The attack on the USS Liberty is the only attack on a US Navy ship not to be the subject of a Congressional investigation since the end of WWII.
This despite the facts that the attack included:
Unmarked aircraft;
Jamming of our radios on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies;
Deliberate machine gunning of serviceable life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship;
Slow circling of our torpedoed and burning ship by attacking torpedo boats as they fired from very close range at USS Liberty crewmen who ventured out to help our wounded shipmates trapped topside; and,
The decision of the attacking torpedo boats to depart the scene immediately after they ceased hostilities only to return some 90 minutes later in an obvious attempt to be able to claim they were coming to our assistance to drive off the aggressors. International law obligates the aggressor to offer aid immediately after they cease hostilities, not 90 minutes later.
The Department of Defense, on the other hand, IS under an obligation to conduct an investigation. Under the DoD’s Law of War Program (see link at http://bit.ly/2Natc7t) the Department of Defense is obligated “to investigate all allegations of war crimes whether committed by or against the United States.” This is not a suggestion or recommendation. It is an obligation.
On June 8, 2005 we submitted “A Report: War Crimes Committed Against U.S. Military Personnel, June 8, 1967” to the Department of Defense. (see link at http://bit.ly/2Natc7t).
The Department of Defense responded by claiming that the Court of Inquiry that they conducted shortly after the attack satisfied their obligation under their Law of War Program.
Unfortunately, the independent Congressional Research Service disagrees with the DoD’s position.
Some 25 years ago I had the opportunity, with the help of a mutual friend, to sit down with Mr. Clyde Mark, a Researcher with the Congressional Research Service.
Mr. Mark was in the CRS when the ship was attacked and was the researcher to whom USS Liberty-related questions would be submitted to for response.
I asked Clyde the direct question, “Has the US government conducted an investigation of the attack on the USS Liberty?”
His response was immediate and emphatic. “No.”
In order for his response to be officially from the CRS, the question must be posed by a Member of Congress. No Member of Congress will ask. I know they won’t because I have asked them to – repeatedly – and they have refused.
Members of Congress insist there has been an investigation of the attack on our ship.
The Department of Defense insists there has been an investigation of the attack on our ship.
The Congressional Research Service insists there has been NO investigation of the attack on our ship.
Will you ask the CRS the question?
Will I participate in a conference call with the Congressman?
That depends. And it should be noted that it comes at a personal price.
I have been invested in the effort to persuade Congress and the DoD that an attack on a US Navy ship warrants a complete and comprehensive public US government simply because it happened since before the USS Liberty Veterans Association was created in June, 1982.
There was a time when I could pursue that goal dispassionately. Almost like the attack happened to someone else.
That wall was destroyed years ago.
Now I protect myself by confining my actions to the protection of a computer and word processor. Unlike the Congressmen and their staffers I have interfaced with over the past decades, my computer doesn’t tell me anything I want to hear or make promises it doesn’t have any intention of honoring just to get me out of the office.
To anticipate a question routinely asked during meetings with Congressmen: Why after over 52 years should we now conduct an investigation of the attack on the USS Liberty?
The answer is complicated and simple at the same time:
It happened. That alone should suffice. It worked for the attacks on the USS Pueblo, USS Stark and USS Cole as well as the 1982 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut. Not so for the attack on the USS Liberty;
War Crimes were committed by and against the United States during the attack;
While we were still under attack and calling for help, LBJ personally ordered the recall of two flights of rescue aircraft that had been launched to come to our aid and would have arrived in time to drive off the torpedo boats, saving the lives of 25 of our shipmates;
The US government, by its refusal to conduct an investigation of the attack, has allowed War Crimes to be committed against the United States with impunity;
The investigation should be expanded far beyond the attack to include a review of the reason why the US government has not conducted an investigation of the attack despite the pleadings of USS Liberty survivors who relate the account that includes violations of the Geneva Convention, the Laws of War, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice; and,
The families of our fallen shipmates have lived since June 8, 1967, with the knowledge that the US government thinks so little of the sacrifice of their sons or fathers that it won’t bother to determine the facts of the attack nor will they attend a memorial service honoring the sacrifice of their loved ones even when that memorial service is held literally in their back yard.
In the attachment you included with your email the question is asked, “Why did the government of Israel knowingly attack the crew and ship of the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967?”
The question is one that should be addressed during the US government investigation we have been advocating for for decades. The US Navy Court of Inquiry was directed NOT to pursue that question even though it was clearly within the scope as described by ADM John S. McCain, Jr. the Convening Authority.
The NSA has acknowledged the existence of voice tapes that may address that question although they refuse to release the tapes referenced in their message. The referenced message is at https://usslibertyveterans.org/files/station_has_voice_tapes.pdf. Please help us by asking the NSA to release of the voice tapes referenced in the NSA message.
My response to your email has been far longer than I anticipated when I began and has covered far more material than anyone can include in a brief, 5-minute conference call with a Member of Congress.
If it’s all the same to you, my preference would be to allow these comments to be submitted for consideration in lieu of the phone call.
I would also appreciate the courtesy of a written response from the Congressman.
If you have any other questions or want any further information, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch with us.
Findings of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Israeli Attack on USS Liberty, the Recall of Military Rescue Support Aircraft while the Ship was Under Attack, and the Subsequent Cover-up by the United States Government
CAPITOL HILL, WASHINGTON, D.C. OCTOBER 22, 2003
ADMIRAL THOMAS H. MOORER, UNITED STATES NAVY, (RET.) FORMER CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
GENERAL RAYMOND G. DAVIS, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, (MOH)* FORMER ASSISTANT COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS
REAR ADMIRAL MERLIN STARING, UNITED STATES NAVY, (RET.) FORMER JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL OF THE NAVY HH
AMBASSADOR JAMES AKINS, (RET.) FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA
Chief Attorney of the 1967 Court of Inquiry Captain Boston’s Affidavit Commonly Asked Questions about USS Liberty Who are the Commissioners of this Independent Investigation?
We, the undersigned, having undertaken an independent investigation of Israel’s attack on USS Liberty, including eyewitness testimony from surviving crewmembers, a review of naval and other official records, an examination of official statements by the Israeli and American governments, a study of the conclusions of all previous official inquiries, and a consideration of important new evidence and recent statements from individuals having direct knowledge of the attack or the cover up, hereby find the following: **(( Captain Ward Boston, USN, JAGC, Ret, the chief Navy attorney for the 1967 U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the Israeli attack, has recently come forward to repudiate the Court’s conclusion that the attack was “a case of mistaken identity”. Captain Boston has revealed that all available evidence, in fact, pointed in exactly the opposite direction – that it was a deliberate attack on a clearly identified American ship. In his affidavit dated October 9, 2003, Captain Boston states, “Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. I am certain that the Israeli pilots that undertook the attack, as well as their superiors who had ordered the attack, were aware that the ship was American.” [See Exhibit attached]. Captain Boston stated that he has personal knowledge that Admiral Kidd found the attack to be “a case of mistaken identity” in 1967 only because he was under direct orders to do so by Defense Secretary McNamara and President Johnson.))((Lieutenant Commander David E. Lewis, USS Liberty’s chief intelligence officer (who was severely wounded in the attack) has reported a conversation with Admiral Lawrence R. Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, who visited Lewis after he had been medically evacuated by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS America. According to Lewis, “He (Admiral Geis) said that he wanted somebody to know that we weren’t forgotten” attempts HAD been made to come to our assistance. He said that he had launched a flight of aircraft to come to our assistance, and he had then called Washington. Secretary McNamara came on the line and ordered the recall of the aircraft, which he did. Concurrently he said that since he suspected that they were afraid that there might have been nuclear weapons on board, he reconfigured another flight of aircraft – strictly conventional weaponry – and re-launched it. After the second launch, he again called Washington to let them know what was going on. Again, Secretary McNamara ordered the aircraft recalled. Not understanding why, he requested confirmation of the order; and the next higher in command came on to confirm that “President Johnson…with the instructions that the aircraft were to be returned, that he would not have his allies embarrassed, he didn’t care who was killed or what was done to the ship “words” to that effect. With that, Admiral Geis swore me to secrecy for his lifetime. I had been silent up until I found out from Admiral Moorer that Admiral Geis had passed away” [transcript from NBC’s Liberty Story, aired on national television 1/27/92]. This statement by Commander Lewis has recently been corroborated by Tony Hart, a Navy communications technician stationed at the U.S. Navy Base in Morocco in June, 1967. Mr. Hart connected the telephone conversation between Secretary McNamara and Admiral Geis and stayed on the line to keep them connected. Hart has been recorded as saying that he overheard Admiral Geis refusing McNamara’s order to recall the Sixth Fleet rescue aircraft while the ship was under attack. Mr. Hart reported that McNamara responded, “we are not going to war over a bunch of dead sailors.”))(( New evidence of intercepted radio communications between attacking Israeli pilots and the Israeli War Room, recorded by a U.S. Navy EC-121 spy plane, in which the Israeli pilots report seeing Liberty’s American flag flying, has been collected by investigative author James Bamford – for 9 years the Washington Investigative Producer for ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings (and author of Body of Secrets, which includes a chapter entitled Blood about the attack on USS Liberty). A similar radio message was intercepted by the EC-121 from the Israeli motor torpedo boats. This corroborates statements by surviving crewmembers, by Ambassador Dwight Porter, and by senior National Security Agency officials concerning NSA intercepts of Israeli pilot communications identifying the ship as American.))
1. That on June 8, 1967, after eight hours of aerial surveillance, Israel launched a two-hour air and naval attack against USS Liberty, the world’s most sophisticated intelligence ship, inflicting 34 dead and 172 wounded American servicemen (a casualty rate of seventy percent, in a crew of 294);
2. That the Israeli air attack lasted approximately 25 minutes, during which time unmarked Israeli aircraft dropped napalm canisters on USS Liberty’s bridge, and fired 30mm cannons and rockets into our ship, causing 821 holes, more than 100 of which were rocket-size; survivors estimate 30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes which were jamming all five American emergency radio channels;
3. That the torpedo boat attack involved not only the firing of torpedoes, but the machine-gunning of Liberty’s firefighters and stretcher-bearers as they struggled to save their ship and crew; the Israeli torpedo boats later returned to machine-gun at close range three of the Liberty’s life rafts that had been lowered into the water by survivors to rescue the most seriously wounded;
4. That there is compelling evidence that Israel’s attack was a deliberate attempt to destroy an American ship and kill her entire crew; evidence of such intent is supported by statements from Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Undersecretary of State George Ball, former CIA director Richard Helms, former NSA directors Lieutenant General William Odom, USA (Ret.), Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, USN (Ret.), and Marshal Carter; former NSA deputy directors Oliver Kirby and Major General John Morrison, USAF (Ret.); and former Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon in 1967;
5. That in attacking USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States;
6. That fearing conflict with Israel, the White House deliberately prevented the U.S. Navy from coming to the defense of USS Liberty by recalling Sixth Fleet military rescue support while the ship was under attack; evidence of the recall of rescue aircraft is supported by statements of Captain Joe Tully, Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, and Rear Admiral Lawrence Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, at the time of the attack; never before in American naval history has a rescue mission been cancelled when an American ship was under attack;
7. That although Liberty was saved from almost certain destruction through the heroic efforts of the ship’s Captain, William L. McGonagle (MOH), and his brave crew, surviving crewmembers were later threatened with “court-martial, imprisonment or worse” if they exposed the truth; and were abandoned by their own government;
8. That due to the influence of Israel’s powerful supporters in the United States, the White House deliberately covered up the facts of this attack from the American people;
9. That due to continuing pressure by the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, this attack remains the only serious naval incident that has never been thoroughly investigated by Congress; to this day, no surviving crewmember has been permitted to officially and publicly testify about the attack;
10. That there has been an official cover-up without precedent in American naval history; the existence of such a cover-up is now supported by statements of Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, USN (Ret.), former Judge Advocate General of the Navy; and Captain Ward Boston, USN, (Ret.), the chief counsel to the Navy’s 1967 Court of Inquiry of Liberty attack;
11. That the truth about Israel’s attack and subsequent White House cover-up continues to be officially concealed from the American people to the present day and is a national disgrace;
12. That a danger to our national security exists whenever our elected officials are willing to subordinate American interests to those of any foreign nation, and specifically are unwilling to challenge Israel’s interests when they conflict with American interests; this policy, evidenced by the failure to defend USS Liberty and the subsequent official cover-up of the Israeli attack, endangers the safety of Americans and the security of the United States.
WHEREUPON, we, the undersigned, in order to fulfill our duty to the brave crew of USS Liberty and to all Americans who are asked to serve in our Armed Forces, hereby call upon the Department of the Navy, the Congress of the United States and the American people to immediately take the following actions:
FIRST: That a new Court of Inquiry be convened by the Department of the Navy, operating with Congressional oversight, to take public testimony from surviving crewmembers; and to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the attack on the USS Liberty, with full cooperation from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the military intelligence services, and to determine Israel’s possible motive in launching said attack on a U.S. naval vessel;
SECOND: That every appropriate committee of the Congress of the United States investigate the actions of the White House and Defense Department that prevented the rescue of the USS Liberty, thereafter threatened her surviving officers and men if they exposed the truth, and covered up the true circumstances of the attack from the American people; and
THIRD: That the eighth day of June of every year be proclaimed to be hereafter known as
USS LIBERTY REMEMBRANCE DAY, in order to commemorate USS Liberty’s heroic crew; and to educate the American people of the danger to our national security inherent in any passionate attachment of our elected officials for any foreign nation.
We, the undersigned, hereby affix our hands and seals, this 22nd day of October, 2003.
Thomas H. Moorer Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
General of Marines Raymond G. Davis, USMC, MOH*
Merlin Staring Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, USN, Ret., Former Judge Advocate General of the Navy,
James Akins Ambassador James Akins, Ret., Former United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia,
*IN MEMORIAM: General of Marines Raymond G. Davis, one of America’s most decorated military heroes (including the Congressional Medal of Honor), Vice Chairman of this panel and one of the principal members of this Independent Commission of Inquiry, passed away in Conyers, Georgia, on September 3, 2003.
** [1] Captain Ward Boston, USN, JAGC, Ret, the chief Navy attorney for the 1967 U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the Israeli attack, has recently come forward to repudiate the Court’s conclusion that the attack was “a case of mistaken identity”. Captain Boston has revealed that all available evidence, in fact, pointed in exactly the opposite direction – that it was a deliberate attack on a clearly identified American ship. In his affidavit dated October 9, 2003, Captain Boston states, “Admiral Kidd and I believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American sailors and injured 172 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. I am certain that the Israeli pilots that undertook the attack, as well as their superiors who had ordered the attack, were aware that the ship was American.” [See Exhibit attached]. Captain Boston stated that he has personal knowledge that Admiral Kidd found the attack to be “a case of mistaken identity” in 1967 only because he was under direct orders to do so by Defense Secretary McNamara and President Johnson.
[2] Lieutenant Commander David E. Lewis, USS Liberty’s chief intelligence officer (who was severely wounded in the attack) has reported a conversation with Admiral Lawrence R. Geis, the Sixth Fleet carrier division commander, who visited Lewis after he had been medically evacuated by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS America. According to Lewis, “He (Admiral Geis) said that he wanted somebody to know that we weren’t forgotten” attempts HAD been made to come to our assistance. He said that he had launched a flight of aircraft to come to our assistance, and he had then called Washington. Secretary McNamara came on the line and ordered the recall of the aircraft, which he did. Concurrently he said that since he suspected that they were afraid that there might have been nuclear weapons on board, he reconfigured another flight of aircraft – strictly conventional weaponry – and re-launched it. After the second launch, he again called Washington to let them know what was going on. Again, Secretary McNamara ordered the aircraft recalled. Not understanding why, he requested confirmation of the order; and the next higher in command came on to confirm that “President Johnson…with the instructions that the aircraft were to be returned, that he would not have his allies embarrassed, he didn’t care who was killed or what was done to the ship “words” to that effect. With that, Admiral Geis swore me to secrecy for his lifetime. I had been silent up until I found out from Admiral Moorer that Admiral Geis had passed away” [transcript from NBC’s Liberty Story, aired on national television 1/27/92]. This statement by Commander Lewis has recently been corroborated by Tony Hart, a Navy communications technician stationed at the U.S. Navy Base in Morocco in June, 1967. Mr. Hart connected the telephone conversation between Secretary McNamara and Admiral Geis and stayed on the line to keep them connected. Hart has been recorded as saying that he overheard Admiral Geis refusing McNamara’s order to recall the Sixth Fleet rescue aircraft while the ship was under attack. Mr. Hart reported that McNamara responded, “we are not going to war over a bunch of dead sailors.”
[3] New evidence of intercepted radio communications between attacking Israeli pilots and the Israeli War Room, recorded by a U.S. Navy EC-121 spy plane, in which the Israeli pilots report seeing Liberty’s American flag flying, has been collected by investigative author James Bamford – for 9 years the Washington Investigative Producer for ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings (and author of Body of Secrets, which includes a chapter entitled Blood about the attack on USS Liberty). A similar radio message was intercepted by the EC-121 from the Israeli motor torpedo boats. This corroborates statements by surviving crewmembers, by Ambassador Dwight Porter, and by senior National Security Agency officials concerning NSA intercepts of Israeli pilot communications identifying the ship as American.
