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Solving the Pueblo mystery
The Washington Times ^ | 1-23-06 | James G. Zumwalt

Posted on 01/23/2006 11:53:34 AM PST by JZelle

An international incident 38 years ago this month remains shrouded in mystery. On the bitterly cold morning of Jan. 23, 1968, an American intelligence vessel, USS Pueblo, was operating in international waters off the coast of North Korea. It was surrounded by four North Korean patrol boats, with two MiG aircraft flying overhead. The boats ordered the Pueblo to stop and let the North Koreans board. The order was refused. The Pueblo headed further out to sea. The North Korean boats immediately opened fire. Armed with only a 50-caliber gun secured from the freezing temperatures by a tarp, the Pueblo was unable to fight back.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: 1968; anasazi; chacocanyon; fourcorners; lbjscrewedthepooch; mystery; navy; northkorea; pueblo; usspueblo; vietnam
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To: hdstmf

41 posted on 01/23/2006 1:42:57 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
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To: ThanhPhero

"The Blues Image song Mystery Ship was about that incident and I always wondered if one of those boys was on the Pueblo or another such ship or A/C. I still play that asong when I get nostalgic ."

Looks like there's a lot of theories about the meaning of this song, interesting reading:
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00CgZG


42 posted on 01/23/2006 1:43:07 PM PST by JZelle
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To: ansel12
Good info, but I do wish we had given some token resistance, even had it resulted in additional casualties. The total lack of return fire made this the most embarassing defeat in U.S. Navy history.

There was pretty much nothing to return fire with. The Pueblo was a converted cargo ship. Its two .50 caliber guns were covered with frozen tarps and were not armored, and the ammunition was stored below. Anyone who would have tried to man the guns would have been blown away by the Koreans. The ship did the only thing it could do, which was stall for time by heading further out to sea while the sensitive material was burned, shredded, and dumped overboard. Perhaps it would make you feel better if the crew had commited mass suicide rather than embarass the U.S. Navy, but that still wouldn't have saved the ship.
43 posted on 01/23/2006 1:45:39 PM PST by drjimmy
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To: ozzymandus

Ask LBJ and McNamara. While you are at it, ask Jimmy Carter why he didn't retaliate when the Iranians took DIPLOMATS and embassy employees as hostages. That was also an act of war and the Iranians are still at war with the US. The end to that one might be in sight, however.


44 posted on 01/23/2006 1:48:24 PM PST by Former Proud Canadian (.)
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To: MineralMan; cardinal4

I was working that evening at Camp Fuchinobe, just up the road from Kami Seya. My buddy and I were pretty junior, and as soon as the word hit the wire, there were brass and civilian big shots coming out of the woodwork. A CTTC I knew from KS was scheduled to make that cruise, but he switched with a pal of his. Another guy I knew was scheduled for that cruise and the Navy was flying him in from Bremerhaven. The plane broke down and he didn't get to Atsugi until after Pueblo had sailed. They put him on a small bird to Sasebo, but by the time this guy got there, she'd already sailed. The wife of one of my work mates was working at the Credit Union at NAS Atsugi, and she was put in charge of all the "hostile detention" accounts.


45 posted on 01/23/2006 1:55:07 PM PST by Ax (Guards! Seize that man!)
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To: JZelle

I felt I recognized that song's origin the first time I heard it. "...watching those old raindrops fall" - raindrops were(are?) radarscreen blips. There were 73 on the Pueblo but it went out of San Diego rather than San Francisco. Someone listening to that song who did not have the NSA/ASA/AFSA/USNSA experience could well think it is allegory or describes something in the real world but would not have the background to recognize the Pueblo.


46 posted on 01/23/2006 2:19:00 PM PST by ThanhPhero (di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: drjimmy

If the mission was as it looked on the surface then the ops can be faulted for not destroying the equipment. If Pueblo was like other such units, at least like the RC135s in the AF, there were preplaced thermite charges that would have reduced the equipment to slag and cinders quickly if deployed.The failure to do that gave rise to suspicions that Pueblo was meant to be captured- see #31.


47 posted on 01/23/2006 2:26:05 PM PST by ThanhPhero (di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: 1Old Pro

I was hoping to find out why we didn't firebomb N. Korea when they refused to let this ship go.

I was stationed as a cop at Osan (actually guarding the alert birds when the attack took place) when all this went down. We asked the same question. After about 2 weeks we realized nothing was going to happen, morale went right in the toilet.


48 posted on 01/23/2006 2:47:35 PM PST by Valin (Purple Fingers Rule!)
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To: Ax

Ax. You ought to write for Snoopy.


49 posted on 01/23/2006 3:29:16 PM PST by Joe Boucher (an enemy of islam)
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To: ThanhPhero

Yong-Son command center was thusly wired.


50 posted on 01/23/2006 3:30:42 PM PST by Joe Boucher (an enemy of islam)
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To: drjimmy

I forget which books I've read on the Pueblo, but I do remember they didn't change my mind about making a show of resistance. Ritual and face saving is important in military matters, the ship could not resist effectively but it could make a statement and go with some honor. I would be surprised if most American sailors would not prefer to have some shred of dignity to cling to in this incident, the captain shamed his crew, his navy, and his country.


51 posted on 01/23/2006 3:37:42 PM PST by ansel12
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To: ansel12

Unless the Pueblo actually did perform its mission successfully. See reply #31


52 posted on 01/23/2006 4:00:29 PM PST by ThanhPhero (di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: ThanhPhero

The Pueblo crew size was 83, not 73.

http://www.usspueblo.org/


53 posted on 01/23/2006 4:01:56 PM PST by TChad
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To: ThanhPhero

That would be great if it is true, but we have to work with the story we know.


54 posted on 01/23/2006 4:15:19 PM PST by ansel12
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To: ThanhPhero
"The Blues Image song Mystery Ship was about that incident and I always wondered if one of those boys was on the Pueblo or another such ship or A/C. I still play that asong when I get nostalgic ."

73 men sailed off from that San Francisco Bay... ...Ride captain ride upon your mystery ship...

My son was born that year in San Jose hospital.

55 posted on 01/23/2006 4:30:53 PM PST by blam
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

>We should have destroyed the ship after the NKs took it.

I don't see how our men could have destroyed the ship after it was in possession of the N. Koreans.


56 posted on 01/23/2006 4:36:29 PM PST by TheBrotherhood
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To: TheBrotherhood

From the air or from under the sea. Either could've been accomplished in a few hours. We also should have hit Tehran 12 hours after the ragheads took our citizens hostage. A half day seems like a reasonable amount of time to me.


57 posted on 01/23/2006 5:27:18 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
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To: ASA Vet
The DPRK pilots were in NVN....kept quiet at the time, public record now. They flew 'Farmers' but not very successfully. I can see the revenge motive. Later the DRPK shot down PR-21 off the coast of N. Korea on 14APR69; crew lost. Caused changes in the Community; subsequent missions flew with CAP.
58 posted on 01/23/2006 6:13:50 PM PST by BIGLOOK (Order of Battle: Sink or capture as Prize, MS Media)
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To: rawcatslyentist

She was no "Lady Bird". She was a bitch dog.


59 posted on 01/23/2006 11:30:09 PM PST by hdstmf (too)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

Shove it! Admiral Zumalt was a freak. The bell-bottom stuff WAS trivia. So was much of his agendas.


60 posted on 01/23/2006 11:35:16 PM PST by hdstmf (too)
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