USS Liberty Survivors of The Six-Day War Read and Write

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On 8 June 1967, thirty four Americans were killed, 174 wounded and scarred for life because the USA Government failed to support the USS Liberty troops while Israel was attacking them with bombs, bullets, and torpedoes; and continues to disrespect the Liberty troops request to speak to the American people during an open Congressional hearing.

By Eileen Fleming

USS Liberty veteran Donald Pageler continues to serve America and honor his shipmates by speaking to students, civic groups, religious organizations and to any one interested in the true and correct record of Israel’s unprovoked attack on an American spy ship as it navigated in international waters without escort during what became known as The Six-Day War.

**Don Pageler stands on the USS Liberty near two (out of 820) rocket holes that hit the ship June 8, 1967, when the Israeli Navy and Air Force attacked the ship as it navigated in international waters.**

Currently Pageler is reading the Attack on a Sigint Collector, the USS Liberty, a 77 page declassified TOP SECRET document now available at Amazon.

The top review for that book was written by another USS Liberty survivor of The Six Day War, who also is the author of “Assault On The Liberty: The True Story Of The Israeli Attack On An American Intelligence Ship” the FIRST book to break the USA Government’s gag order on the Liberty troops who were ordered NOT to speak of their eye witness experiences under penalty of imprisonment “or worse.”

The following Amazon review of the NSA report was written by James Ennes:

This is the official National Security Agency report by William Gerhard on the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. It first appeared in 1980 as a top secret internal document, was declassified and released a few years later, and was eventually picked up, reformatted and reissued by Aegean Park Press in California which still publishes it for a reasonable price. The later version of the same book is listed in Amazon.com with a different title (Attack on the USS Liberty, I believe), but it is the same book. It is also offered from time to time on eBay for a much inflated price of several hundred dollars, but it is still the same book and is available from the publisher and on Amazon.com for about $35.

The best and newest book on the subject is ATTACK ON THE LIBERTY by James Scott, a prizewinning professional journalist who is the son of the ship’s damage control officer. Another title is ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY by this writer. Both are selections of the US Naval Institute. Both books have won awards and plaudits and are the only books fully devoted to this subject by major publishers.

Several other titles seek to capitalize on this subject and are wisely ignored.- end Ennes

James Scott’s book, educated this civilian regarding the outrage felt by many inside the Pentagon, State Department, NSA, Navy and even a few Congressional representatives over the fact that Israel’s chain of command were well aware of the USS Liberty’s true identity and he eviscerated their excuse of “mistaken identity”.

Scott documents that Israeli pilots, air control staff and navy officers in Tel Aviv and Haifa were aware that before their unprovoked brutal torpedo attacks on the unarmed spy ship that the vessel was definitely American.

“More than twenty minutes before the fatal torpedo strike killed twenty-five sailors; Israel’s chief air controller conclusively identified the Liberty as an American ship.”

Many years after the attack, Lieutenant Colonel Shmuel Kislev, the chief air controller at general headquarters in Tel Aviv, confessed that he knew the U.S.S. LIBERTY was an American ship as soon as an Israeli pilot radioed in its hull numbers.

Two months before the sailor’s mass burial at Arlington Cemetery, Navy analysis uncovered that the Israeli torpedo boat gunners had targeted the spy ship with 40-mm tracer rounds made in the United States.

In 1967, the Republican representative from Iowa, H.R. Gross asked questions that still demand an answer today:

“Is this Government now, directly or indirectly, subsidizing Israel in the payment of full compensation for the lives that were destroyed, the suffering of the wounded, and the damage from this wanton attack? It can well be asked whether these Americans were the victims of bombs, machine gun bullets and torpedoes manufactured in the United States and dished out as military assistance under foreign aid.”

By November 1967, lawmakers were willing to spend six million USA tax dollars to build schools in Israel but during the debate, Representative Gross spoke with the voice of conscience and introduced an amendment that “not one dollar of U.S. credit or aid of any kind [should] go to Israel until there is a firm settlement with regard to the attack and full reparations have been made [and Israel] provides full and complete reparations for the killing and wounding of more than 100 United States citizens in the wanton, unprovoked attack…I wonder how you would feel if you were the father of one of the boys who was killed in that connection-or perhaps you do not have any feelings with respect to these young men who were killed, wounded and maimed, or their families.”