#71
It reminded me of the signals caught in the photograph when our naval vessel was captured illegally by North Korea and they released their propaganda photo and unknowingly told the world what we knew all along . .
USS Pueblo Crew during North Korean propaganda Broadcast
In early December, the North Koreans finally figured out what the finger meant and began to take revenge upon the men; this began a period referred to as Hell Week. Hell Week actually lasted 10 days and the beatings and injuries sustained were more severe than at any other time in captivity. This was going on at the same time as negotiations to free the men and when an agreement had been reached, the beatings stopped very suddenly and the crew received medical attention to prepare them for release and the media storm that would follow. The crew used many examples like this to exert their resistance to their captors without them knowing, which amounted to a mental victory despite their physical defeat. Another example of the psychological abuse the crew suffered was the time that the crew was given pen knives and forced to get on their knees and cut the grass in the yard of the compound. The grass was used later as a salad and eaten by the crew.
front row: Howard E. Bland (deceased July 25, 1992), Donald R. Peppard, James D. Layton, Monroe O. Goldman back row: Ronald L. Berens, Harry Iredale, William D. Scarborough (deceased February 26, 1970), Charles B. Law (deceased September 25, 2001)
