On June 8, 1967, a US Navy signals intelligence ship the USS Liberty was suddenly and brutally attacked in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel. The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an American ship and lied about it. Survivors have been forbidden for 40 years to tell their story under oath to the American public. This USS Liberty Memorial web site tells their story and is dedicated to the memory of the 34 brave men who died.
After surveilling USS Liberty for more than nine
hours with almost hourly aircraft over flights and radar tracking, the
air and naval forces of Israel attacked our ship in international waters
without warning. USS Liberty was identified as a US naval ship nine
hours before the attack by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft and
continuously tracked by Israeli radar and aircraft thereafter. Sailing
in international waters at less than five knots, with no offensive
armament, our ship was not a military threat to anyone.
The Israeli forces attacked without warning and
without attempting to contact us. Thirty four Americans were killed in
the attack and another 174 were wounded. The ship, a $40 Million Dollar
state of the art signals intelligence platform, was later declared
wrecked and sold for scrap.
The captain of the ship, Captain William McGonagle,
was later awarded the Medal of Honor, but not at the usual setting in
the White House with full media attention. His ceremony was barely
publicized and took place at a naval shipyard. His medal was presented
to him by the Secretary Of The Navy. All other Medals of Honor are
awarded by the president.
McGonagle later had this to say about the attack:
