Posted on 09/06/2008 7:16:41 PM PDT by nuconvert
40 Years After Capture, USS Pueblo Crew Reunites
JERICHO, Vt. Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968.
Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members. Some still suffer the physical effects of torture or malnutrition they suffered in 11 months of captivity.
McClintock is proud of his service as a 24-year-old communications technician and the bonds he made with his crew mates, but that pride is tinged with bitterness.
"We were treated as heroes when we got back, but what the Navy, the institution of the Navy really wanted, in my opinion, is the Pueblo to have sunk," McClintock said at his Jericho home. "When we came back, the Navy now has to look at itself and they don't like to look at themselves."
On Wednesday, 40 of the 69 surviving crew members will gather in neighboring Essex for a four-day reunion featuring exhibits and speeches by experts on U.S.-Korean relations
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“”I think the crew has always wanted someone in the Navy to stand up and say ‘Hey, you guys did a great job in a poorly conceived mission without any backup,”’ said Skip Schumacher, 65, of St. Louis, a lieutenant junior grade on the ship.”
I wonder if McCain could talk to someone in the Navy to help make this happen?
Thanks for making me feel real old.
I was around back then too ;~ )
McCain should demand the USS Pueblo be returned to the United States.
If not, sink it with a cruise missile and give it an honorable end.
That it is a propaganda museum for Lil Kim is a disgrace.
My Gosh, I was stationed at Osan Air Force Base the day they took the Pueblo. They pulled us out of the base bowling alley to go on alert. From that point on our tour took on a whole different outlook and seriousness.
We waited for LBJ to give the order to get that ship back but it never came.
The rest is history.
The capture of the Pueblo was an intelligence bonanza for the Soviets.
I always wonder what would become of the Pueblos if, for some reason, she is returned to the USA. Would she become a museum, or would she be consigned to a scrap yard so the Navy doesn’t have to be reminded of the whole sordid story. I would hope it’s the former. I’d love to see her. Perhaps the remaing crewmembers would like to walk her decks again.
I believe this is the first re-union since CDR Lloyd Bucher died. I may be wrong about that, though.
Too bad the crypto gear was so solidly built. I wonder if the military has learned from that?
You can find it pretty easily on Google Earth. It’s amazing how small that ship really is, and makes you wonder what buffoon put it so far out there on it’s own 40 years ago.
Grade schoolers do mandatory tours of the ship.
And Richardson went on a tour of it when he was in North Korea. What an unpatriotic PUTZ.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/04/09/richardson_tours_captured_us_warship/
Man, I had forgotten that. That SOB. He knew what he was doing—and there is no excuse for it.
I remember this, and thinking at the time, “How could we let this happen?
Is THIS how we support our military?”
It certainly affected my decision to wait out the draft, the only lottery I ever won.
But it is inexcusable that we allow NK to keep the Pueblo.
Sounds like sinking her is a job for a S.E.A.L. team to me...
You're kidding, right?
Are you familiar with McCain's history about MIAs and POWs?
They were captured a year before I was born....lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.