We should have forcibly taken it back.
I was home ported in Yokosuka and the families were there. Along with the ship they got all our reserve codes. A real disaster.
I have to review the history as to why we chose not to attack to retrieve the ship and crew. This was at the height of the Vietnam war; perhaps LBJ was afraid of restarting the Korean War if we did anything militarily in response?
Or, at a minimum, once the crew was released, sunk it.
Or at least sunk it after the crew was returned. And the USN tried (unsuccessfully) to court-martial the CO.
>> We should have forcibly taken it back.
Well, yeah, except that the chickensh!t puke-sucking ‘rat Lyndon Butthole Johnson was president, and he ordered “no direct action”.
Same as Jimmuh “pussycrat peanutboy” Carter when the Iranians took our embassy.
Same as Barack “Loves Me Some Mohammed” Craprat Obama, when his muslim brotherhood murdered our ambassador team in Benghazi.
... detect a pattern here?
It should have been destroyed decades ago.
My Dad said that at the time, I recall. He was in the Navy at the time (San Diego) and I remember he met Bucher briefly at a VFW.