Quotes
:salam2:
From the link above given by akhi GP , i quoted the sayings of those who survive
Statement by survivor Ken Ecker , Exhibit 35
"Immediately following the attack I was threatened with court-martial if I discussed the incident with the press or anyone else. One of the warnings was also not to discuss the attack even with my immediate family or friends. In my case these warnings were repeated upon my transfer from each duty station I left along with the standard security clearance de-briefing. I was also periodically taken aside and reminded of the original threat even when not being transferred. Though never told the reason for these one on one "advisory" sessions, I personally believe they were the result of some action that raised the possibility of further publicity that our government wanted to suppress.
I want no personal recognition, but I will not rest until the 34 brave men that sacrificed their lives are finally given the long overdue honor they so justly deserve. Hopefully with the help of all concerned this long denied justice will be forthcoming"
Survivor James M. Ennes, Jr., Exhibit 12
"Yet despite these things a few Americans seem to accept the preposterous claim that the attack was a mistake and that firing stopped with the torpedo explosion. One can accept and understand this attitude from an Israeli, as he would have a natural tendency to believe his country's version of events and to disbelieve contrary versions -- especially since he has no personal experience to draw upon. But how can an American disbelieve the virtually identical eyewitness reports of scores of surviving fellow Americans and accept instead the undocumented claims of the foreign power that tried to kill them? That is very difficult to understand or to accept.
The typical Israeli reaction is that we are liars or antiSemites, which of course we are not. We are American sailors honestly reporting an act of treachery at sea. At the very least we deserve your courtesy and understanding"
Letter to editor by survivor Harold "Gene" Six, Riverside, California, Press-Enterprise, March 1, 1996 , Exhibit 34:
"President Clifton and other elected officials have come out and condemned Castro and Cuba for shooting down two aircraft flown by Cuban revolutionaries that may or may not have violated Cuban airspace. Yet on June 8, 1967, When the Israeli defense forces attacked an American naval vessel --USS Liberty AGTR-5 --that was and always had been in international waters, nothing was said or done by the US government.
This attack resulted in the deaths of 34 American sailors and the wounding of 171 others. Yet even today the survivors of the attack cannot get their elected officials to investigate the attack. An attack that was deliberate. An attack that violated international law. An attack that violated provisions of the Geneva Convention, in other words war crimes. An attack where provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice were violated when American naval aircraft sent to the aid of the USS Liberty were called back not once but twice by someone at the White House.
Do American lives mean so little to our elected officials that they will use the dead bodies of 18-year old American sailors as stepping stones on their way to office?"
....no really..they don't.