The Cover-Up Begins
January 14, 2008
We took one last look at our beautiful Sixth Fleet rescue ships, the massive USS America standing out above the rest. All of a sudden, we heard ‘Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!’ from the thousands of our brother sailors and marines aboard the USS America. That beautiful sound echoed across the water and bounced off our crippled ship and it sent chills up my spine. It was the final goodbye from our brothers as we limped along at about 4 to 5 knots to Malta. We soon lost sight of our rescue ships and we were all alone except for the USS Papago trailing behind us, scouring the vast ocean for debris and the remains of our dead, 25 of which were still entombed inside our ship. There was a great deal of reverence and sadness in our hearts, knowing our mates were under our feet in a watery grave. I felt guilty for being alive, wondering why I wasn’t one of the dead. I also felt very blessed to be alive. Why were we spared and others died? Only God knows.
This was a very busy time for those of us who stayed with the ship and there was no time to rest. We had our work cut out for us making sure the Liberty did not take on water. We constantly had to check the shoring that was keeping the bulkheads from bursting and flooding our ship. It was checked every hour by the sounding and security watch, which was my watch along with others in damage control.
The shoring was like a small “v” on the deck that I had to crawl through each hour that I was on watch. I had to crawl through the very small opening with a battle lantern light, checking the cracks in the bulkheads to see if they were getting larger. The sea water was dripping in from the cracks.
It was terrifying for me to crawl in there, because on the other side of that bulkhead was the sea and an incalculable amount of awful, awesome, untamable power. It was like sitting right next to an atomic bomb as it was ticking, and all I could think about was the bulkheads bursting with me down there and how I would dead like my shipmates a few feet away. There was no room to move around, just enough to crawl in and out. Despite the fact I did this too many times to count it never got any easier–the terror for me was always the same and soon enough I knew every crack in the bulkheads by heart. I could tell in an instant if one had gotten bigger and how much sea water was leaking in. To this day, I am very claustrophobic and can’t stand to be in small spaces.
On Sunday, Admiral Isaac Kidd came aboard our ship from the destroyer ‘USS Barry’ with his entourage. He made his way around the ship, first talking to the officers then working his way down the chain of command to the lowest-ranking crewmen still on board. I was very happy to see him come aboard because I knew it was only a matter of time until my turn came to tell him my story about what I had seen. The word was passed to sit tight and be patient, that the admiral wants to talk to everyone with no exceptions. I was on the bridge and saw the admiral several times, including passing him in the passage way. He barely knew I was there as I stood at attention whenever I was around him. You could tell he demanded a great deal of respect and he got it. He was a very intimidating figure and I knew this from other crew members already debriefed by him. I thought maybe he wasn’t going to interview me because it seemed like forever before he got to me.
Then my turn came with those ominous words, as if they came from God Himself. ‘Tourney - report to sick bay. Admiral Kidd wants to talk to you.’ I hurried to my berthing compartment to put on the best set of dungarees I had left and put on my spit-shined shoes out of respect for the admiral. I got to sick bay and requested permission to enter. Permission was given and my heart started to pound, not just because it was the Admiral but because I knew I was part of something big. After all, a United States ship had been attacked and there was no way America was going to take it lying down like some sissy. We never did. Nobody messed with America and got away with it. Pearl Harbor was only about 25 years earlier and look at what we did to the Japanese as a result of that sneak attack.
When I entered I saw no admiral. The only thing there were several more sailors. All of a sudden a roar came out of one of the sailors mouths like it had come form a lion–ATTENTION ON DECK. We all snapped to attention and in a straight line, stiff as an ironing board, just as we had been trained to do.
The admiral spoke–“At ease, men. Relax, I need to talk to you about the attack on your ship. I am conducting a report for Admiral McCain and I need your full cooperation to get this story right.”
The admiral took the stars off of his lapel and tossed them onto the stainless steel table. They bounced and came to rest. I noticed right away that they landed with the stars up. I thought to myself that you couldn’t get that to happen again if you tried all day.
He barked out his request, “I want you men to understand, I’m not an admiral. I am just like you. There is no rank in this room. I want you to talk to me as if you were talking to each other. Do you understand?”
I thought to myself, ‘Hey, this guy is pretty cool.’ At that moment he was more like an uncle than a father, certainly an authority figure but also your friend. I felt very comfortable with him and my mind was at ease, thinking that I could open up to him and tell him anything. I did not want to leave out anything I had to tell him and I was glad to let it all out. He asked us all in the group the same questions.
‘Did you know who was attacking you? How long was the attack? Did you see life rafts being shot at? Did you see any markings on the airplanes or torpedo boats? Was our flag flying?’
We all opened up our hearts and told him what we had seen and how brutal the Israelis were to us. We asked why help did not come to us. We asked why a destroyer escort was denied us and on and on we asked questions. When he asked us if we had anything else to say I felt like I had vented all I could to him. I told him that I had said all I can remember but would be happy to talk again if he wanted me to.
Then the admiral put on his stars. He stood straight up and firmly said to us
‘I am now an admiral again and I want you to listen to me very closely. If you ever repeat what you have just told me to anyone, I don’t care if its your mother, another shipmate, anyone, I will make sure you end up in prison…
…and then, to accentuate how serious he was, he ended with
‘…or worse…’
…And we all knew what ‘worse’ meant.
I was stunned into silence. I had just been gang-raped, first by the government of Israel when they butchered us and now by an admiral of the US Navy for telling the truth. It seemed to me he wished we hadn’t saved our ship and that we wound up at the bottom of the ocean. He never once said ‘Good job, men,’
NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING.
He got his way that day, as he put the fear of God in me and I did not speak a word about the Liberty for 20 years. I was too afraid to.
Our country abandoned us then and they are still abandoning us today. There is no honor in these men. None. They are traitors of the worse kind and make Benedict Arnold look like a patriot.
We were silent for a long time, but not anymore. The crew of the Liberty say loud and clear for everyone to hear–just like when General Quarters were called the minute the attack began that day–that the truth will overcome the lies and surrounding this act of war by the US Government and by the State of Israel. No one, NO ONE should be allowed to murder and commit war crimes and get by with it, not even Israel and not even America.
Forty years later, I now know why they didn’t send us to the Island of Crete, (only a few days away) rather than Malta, which took five–There wouldn’t have been enough time for them to scare the crew into silence.
But today is a different day than was yesterday. Like the Americans who swarmed on the British like hornets as America’s enemies burned the town of Concord in 1775, we will not take it anymore. Not one inch, not one ounce. Not one millimeter. This is our country, the place where we and our loved ones and friends live and we will not disown or dishonor it for anyone, and especially not for a foreign country that has attacked us on many occasions. It is 1775 and the Minutemen have heard the call and are grabbing their muskets and powder horns and we will not finish until it is all done, and like what happened at Lexington Green over 200 years ago, this is the shot heard round the world.
2008 by Phil Tourney
Survivor of the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty taking place June 8, 1967 off the coast of Gaza in international waters
***Look for the upcoming book published by American Free Press entitled ‘In Their Own Words…The Survivors Of the USS Liberty Speak Out’ soon to be published by American Free Press newspaper
tonktime5@yahoo.com
January 14, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Interesting that Admiral McCain was apparently part of the coverup and now his son is about to become POTUS. How disgusting.
January 14, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Yes, Admiral McCain was a goddammed traitor, and so is his son, John. In fact, these despicable creatures that they’re parading in front of us to vote for are the most crooked, lying, traitorous, murderous, oppourtunistic, deceitful pack of human filth on two legs that we have ever had to choose a supposed leader from. Only Ron Paul speaks for America. The media has treated him like a non person. They have done everything they can to marginalize him and to brand him as a nut. Yes, Ron Paul is a nut, because he believes in the constitution, because he wants an honest money system, because he wants freedom and liberty for all Americans, and to get the goddammed fascists that have hijacked our government the hell off our backs. Now Israeli citizen and head of the Homeland Security, Michael “son of the devil” Chertoff feels that every American should be treated as a suspected terrorist and to prove who they really are. Mr. Chertoff, as an Israeli citizen, what right do you have to question OUR loyalty as Americans? My family has live in America since before it was a country, fought in the Revolutionary and Civil War, and my father was a veteran of WW 2,and for you to question our loyalty and right to be here, in this country that we were born in, believed in, worked, paid taxes, obeyed and respected the law in is more than antagonistic; it is without dececency, something that you and your ilk have no comprehension of. By the way, Homeland Security has nothing to do with security of our America. Americans have never called America their homeland. That is what Jews call Israel! Homeland Security is about security for Israel, not the US. They wont be satisfied until every good, decent American is beaten into the dirt, the same way they beat the Palistinians into the dirt in Israel. Guess what devil boy? The only people you have fooled are the fools.
January 14, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Admiral McCain, eh? I guess that explains things, such as his son’s promise to stay in Iraq for 100 years.
Never underestimate masochism as a reason for service. Or sadism. The warrior mentality is already a foreign element, and we cannot blame Israel for that. It is a morphing of the American spirit into something which lives only to obey. It bothers me. Admiral McCain was perfectly obedient too, and he did not rock the political boat. He would deliver. Remember Oliver North’s speech about obedience to Reagan?
January 14, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Alright, you’ve decided you won’t take it anymore. But WHAT will you do? And HOW will you do it?
Is seems that you begin to realize that redress is not available from the government; for, your experience demonstrates it has been captured by thieves and cutthroats.
It is sort of pointless to ask those accused to prosecute, to judge and to punish themselves.
It is long past time that we take matters into our own hands… as American Founders did.
The trouble is that Americans of today do not have the knowledge necessary to take matters into their own hands. This knowledge has been erased from our history and law books.
January 14, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I would suggest starting at the local county courthouse. The sheriff’s department and the county prosecutor are especially recommended. Thieves, liars and crooks. Truly traitors to our country, and they know very well they are. They would once again sell all of us out in a heartbeat, for a buck or for Israel.
Think I’m exaggerating? Experience tells me I’m not. Strike the root.
January 15, 2008 at 12:11 am
HOMELAND SECURITY IS AMERICAN BRANCH OF MOSSAD.
January 15, 2008 at 12:30 am
SUPPORTING RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT WOULD BE A GOOD START
January 15, 2008 at 1:23 am
One important point missed. The gallant defense of the Liberty may have saved the innocent people of Cairo from nuclear holocaust. I have read reports P.Johnson had a nuked plane in the air ready to strike. The crew of the Liberty may be heroes even beyond their own understanding. We American’s today have failed in the same respect. We are unworthy.
January 15, 2008 at 1:27 am
Fear not brothers, we will NOT let the memories of the fallen die.
I have spoken about this to many that I know and even had James Ennis come over to a forum where jews and communist trash were denigrating your fallen.
Also, never doubt, not for one nanosecond that your fallen and the survivors alike will be avenged.
We will NOT accept anything less.
January 15, 2008 at 2:52 am
Mike Adkison: I too have ancestors from the colonial period, but unfortunately, so did many traitors to this country. I, however, remember that this is the only country I will ever have, so I had better treat her right…
What I think you are trying to say about Chertoff’s arrogant display of fear-mongering (most recently in the National Press Club, my grandfather’s old hang-out, which he helped to found), where he harangued for a national ID system beside a portrait of Mohammed Atta as his poster boy for the policy… is the concept of “innocent until proven guilty.”
What are the premises of the sovietized minds now leading us astray? That there are classes of people who are guilty until tortured into admitting it.
How can we restore our honor? Let us begin with the truth. It can set us free, but we must make it plain. The truth can be heard from people like Professor Steven Jones. From the perfidy of that day, as Chertoff knows and holds dear to his heart, much evil power has flowed. It would be one thing if this were a power merely exercised beyond our borders after some Gulf of Tonkin incident or Remember the Maine, but it is instead something which affects each and every one of us and menaces our lives as those of the Iron Curtain inmates experienced.
I hope we can keep that in focus. Chertoff and men like him rule by coup.
January 15, 2008 at 2:55 am
There’s no statute of limitations for murder, but this goes WAY, WAY beyond mere murder. Every last one of those responsible, ESPECIALLY ADMIRAL MCCAIN, must be punished to the fullest extent of the LAW!!!
January 15, 2008 at 4:01 am
So ,John McCain’s father was a traitor too ,it must run in the family .
January 15, 2008 at 4:44 am
Dam you McCain I’m glad you supported that Amnesty bill which made me to look further into possibly supporting you for president in my searches I found three things
1st USS liberty site
http://www.gtr5.com/
2nd Vietnam Veterans against John McCain
http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/
3rd Ron Paul for president 2008
RonPaul2008.com
January 15, 2008 at 5:38 am
Diebold voting machines used in the U.S. are produced in Israel.
January 15, 2008 at 9:35 am
Do you have any law in the states left ,it seems as though these scoundrels keep repeating these actions, over and over and does anyone get punished?. Your mainstream media wont help you , your 3 levels of government have their haeds in th big barrel. The only thing they understand sadly is violence. 2008, 2012, 2016, are you going to simply put up with this historic staus quo and keep whinging “well what do we do”, did not your decendants shed any blood in a fight for liberty. Only the true statesmen eg paul and that kucinich fella, would make true (indipendant from elite) leaders, regardless of their political thoughts. And you need to back these people with “your” sacrifice. GET ANGRY!!!
January 15, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Thank you Phil Tourney for speaking up and doing it so eloquently.
January 15, 2008 at 3:34 pm
As a survivor I am so happy to see all the positive
comments. We stand for the truth, have always stood
for the truth, and nothing more then that. It appears
that America is starting to wake up. I would hope so.
January 15, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Yes, America is starting to WAKE UP, but it is up to we the people to ignite a fire under them and put some starch in their spine.
PLEASE to all who care, send your Congressperson a message-email, phone, fax them to SUPPORT THE TROOPS with an OPEN investigation that will honor the survivors, the murdered and the families by allowing all the LIBERTY VETS who want to talk on the record in Congress about that day in infamy when our govt. failed to support our servicemen and the MSM went MIA.
e
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
January 15, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Several years ago, a retired Navy JAG Captain, Federal Bankruptcy Judge, and amateur historian named A. J. Cristol wrote and published a book about the USS Liberty attack entitled, “The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship”.
Cristol’s conclusion was that the attack was due to multiple mistakes, on both sides; and the attackers either did not know the identity of the ship, or misidentified the ship.
If one reads the book carefully and does some fact-checking, it soon becomes clear that the book is peppered with half-truths, well-filtered information, and a few outright falsehoods (e.g., fake gun camera images).
To a great extent, Cristol’s book reads more like a defense attorney’s brief than an objective historical account of the attack.
Nonetheless, here’s what Senator John McCain, a former combat experienced Navy pilot, had to say about Cristol’s book: “After years of research for this book, Judge A. Jay Cristol has reached a similar conclusion to one my father reached in his June 18, 1967, endorsement of the findings of the court of inquiry. I commend Judge Cristol for his thoroughness and fairness, and I commend this work.”
In case it’s not clear, the Navy’s exceptionally short-lived (one week) Court of Inquiry found: “Available evidence combines to indicate the attack on LIBERTY on 8 June was in fact a case of mistaken identity.”
January 15, 2008 at 5:27 pm
“Available Evidence” is the problem. Former Captain
Ward Boston who was the legal counsel for the investigation has printed his statement about the
investigation and its findings at http://www.ussliberty.org
What he says shoots holes in anything Cristol has to
say or for that matter McCain. By the way Admiral
Thomas Moorer former Head of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff had more experience then any pilot identifying
warships at sea. His statements can also be found
at the above web site. They do not agree with Cristol
or McCain.