US Navy Ship Named After Man Who Ordered the USS Liberty to be Abandoned While Still Under Attack and Calling for Help

US Navy Ship Named After Man Who Ordered the USS Liberty to be Abandoned While Still Under Attack and Calling for Help

by Joe Meadors, USS Liberty Survivor

In a DoD press release dated April 16, 2002, SECNAV Ray Mabus announced that the next Zumwalt-class destroyer will be named the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1007).

The USS LBJ is currently listed as “under construction” on the Naval Vessel Register.

Given that the US Navy has admitted to errors in the Naval Vessel Register (see the naming of LCS-2 the new USS Liberty) we hope that this is just another example of that fact.

Once the US government deems the attack on a US Navy ship warrants an investigation regardless of the identity of the force attacking the ship it will be officially acknowledged that the same President Lyndon Baines Johnson ordered recalled two flights of rescue aircraft that had been launched to assist the USS Liberty – which led directly to the death of 25 USS Liberty crewmen who were killed by the torpedo attack.

I submit that it is a gross insult to everyone who ever served in the US Navy – especially those who were aboard the USS Liberty when the ship was attacked without warning or provocation – to name a US Navy ship after someone who ordered a US Navy ship to be abandoned while that ship was still under attack and calling for help.

The US Navy doesn’t make it easy to contact them electronically on serious issues such as this.  The easiest way to express your outrage at their effort to honor President LBJ is through their Facebook page.

If someone knows of an email address that can be used to contact them please email me at [email protected]