Thoughts on the military and military activities of a diverse nature. Free-ranging and eclectic.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Britishers III.


This is coolbert:
From a comment to the blog:

"I just wish they had put up an un-cringeworthy performance. Was that too much to expect?"

Another incident of what would be appear to be cringing submission would be the capture of the U.S.S Pueblo, 1968.

From back in my day. An "incident", that believe me, WAS REALLY BIG FROM SEVERAL STANDPOINTS!!

Captured by the forces of North Korea, and basically without a shot being fired. The crew of the Pueblo then held for eleven months, having to make propaganda broadcasts for the North Koreans, some sailors cooperating during interrogation with their captors.

I was on duty the day the Pueblo was captured and remember the event well. All of us were surprised that SUCH A THING COULD EVEN HAPPEN!! This was the FIRST TIME SINCE THE WAR OF 1812 THAT AN AMERICAN WARSHIP WAS BOARDED AND CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY. Again, without a SHOT EVEN HAVING BEEN FIRED!!

[shots were fired, and a sailor killed. But by that time, the ship had already more or less given up.]

This incident was perhaps the greatest disgrace to occur to the U.S. military during the Cold War!? Very humiliating to begin with. And for the North Koreans and reportedly the Soviets as well, the capture of the Pueblo, intact, was an intelligence gold mine of the highest order. I would have to think that A LOT OF DAMAGE WAS DONE BY JUST THIS ONE INCIDENT!!

It is true that the crew of the Pueblo was subjected to harsh treatment, beatings by North Korean martial artists [tae kwon do] seeming to be meted out on a daily basis, for absolutely no reason whatsoever [an intimidation technique].

And in all likelihood the crew of the Pueblo neither had SERE training, a capacity for defense, or even the remotest expectation of being attacked in the first place, much less defending themselves. WHAT OCCURRED TO THEM WAS TOTALLY OUT OF THE BLUE, UNEXPECTED, AND CALAMITOUS.

WHATEVER FIGHT EXISTED IN THOSE SAILORS TO BEGIN WITH JUST SEEMED TO BE TAKEN OUT OF THEM FROM THE VERY START!! THESE GUYS WERE JUST NOT PREPARED IN THE SLIGHTEST WAY FOR WHAT HAPPENED!!

Also, please understand this carefully. I do not for a moment underestimate the danger those sailors were in. The North Korean is probably among the most, if not the most, cruelest, sadistic, meanest bunch around. DO NOT expect even the slightest bit of mercy from any of them. This I well understand.

[with one exception. There was one Marine on board the Pueblo. This man reportedly did fight back and was able to resist with honor the attacks upon his person and stood up to the mistreatment!! Bully to him!!]

The Pueblo is now a museum piece docked in Wan'po harbor. A tourist attraction?! [I would have to think there are few tourists in North Korean.] The U.S. Navy, I would think, has never forgotten the Pueblo and the humiliation it suffered. One of these days, when North Korea goes under [if and when], I bet there are plans in the works to recover that ship. Honor must be redeemed!!

coolbert.

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"This (Pueblo) incident was perhaps the greatest disgrace to occur to the U.S. military during the Cold War!?"

"WHAT OCCURRED TO THEM WAS TOTALLY OUT OF THE BLUE, UNEXPECTED, AND CALAMITOUS."

I don't know about greatest or out of the blue. There is evidence that President Johnson declined to respond to a knowing Israeli attack upon the United States. He allowed the Israelis to machine gun and generally blast hell out of a clearly identifiable USS Liberty & crew w/o rescue or counterstrike (not proportionate).

In the Liberty incident, our having displayed weakness, a willingness to accept outrageous murderous abuse from a friend, a deadly enemy as the North Koreans took note.

Compare & contrast President Johnson w the Pueblo and President Ford w the Mayaguez. President Ford did not fret about the Soviets, Red Chinese or the absolutely horrible Khmer Rouge. He acted decisively.

10:15 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://groups.msn.com/ctoseadogs/usspueblocrew1.msnw

Check the above link. It has one of my favorite photos. The look on the faces of the guys in the close-up shot is even better. Apparently, when the North Koreans found out that these guys were flipping them off, they kicked them around and starved them. But you know what, I bet it was worth it. Also a great way to let people back home know you haven't been broken.

11:17 AM

 
Blogger Albert said...

Bert: And when the crew members flipped the bird to the North Koreans, the North Koreans, being as isolated and dumb as they were, did not know what that meant. The crew told the Koreans that it was "a Hawaiian good luck symbol!!"

And it is true, they gotten beaten up badly all the time by tae kwon do martial artists. Probably members of the NKPA 123rd Army Unit. Giving the troops real experience at brutalizing an American. Get the juices of hate going. Like the Soviet spetsnaz with "puppets".

Bert.

7:53 AM

 
Blogger Albert said...

Bert: As for a disaster, well, it all depends on the exact date that Walker of the Walker spy ring first made contact with the Soviets. Various web sites say various dates, early 1967 being most likely. If that is the case, and if what the Czech defector Senja says is true, then the whole idea to capture the Pueblo was done at the behest of the Soviets to get their hands on U.S. crypto gear. And this they did. I think a lot of gear was captured intact. It could be that the capture of this gear combined with Walker giving daily keys for the crypto allowed the Soviets to read the traffic of at least the U.S. Navy and maybe others for decades??!!

Bert.

7:57 AM

 

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