Posted on 12/17/2001 9:30:48 AM PST by ouroboros
You mean double-posting?
I think you think you ARE Irv Rubin.
It's the Norman Bates syndrome, perhaps.
Peace through strength can work for the Middle East, too.
History Channel to tell story of attack on USS Liberty
By Robert Cristo, The Record August 09, 2001
WATERFORD - His brother died a hero on the ship's bridge when Israeli forces launched an unprovoked aircraft and torpedo attack on the USS Liberty during the Six Day War with Egypt in 1967.
Ever since, the attack in the Mediterranean Sea that killed 34 crew members and injured almost 200 has been a matter of controversy. The Israeli government claims it was a "tragic case of misidentification," while others, like James M. Ennes Jr., a USS Liberty survivor and author of "Assault on the Liberty," contend the ship was operating far from any fighting in international waters at the time of the attack, and flew a bright, clean American Flag that should have been noticed by Israeli forces.
A documentary on the controversial subject will air tonight on the History Channel, and one family whose lives were tragically transformed by that day in history will be watching.
Today, 50-year-old Michael Brown, originally from Troy and who now lives in Waterford with his wife Trudy, is still left wondering why the tragic incident that took the lives of his brother, Petty Officer Francis Brown, and the other crew members ever happened in the first place.
"We never received any real answers from Israel or the United States on what happened," said Brown, a 30-year veteran assembler at the Schenectady General Electric plant. "The government tried to cover it up ... but we want the truth."
The Browns may never get the answers they seek, but at least they have the memories of a man who, according to conversations Brown had with his brother's shipmates, possibly saved hundreds of lives by courageously steering the ship away from perilous torpedoes.
"Three torpedoes went up and because of his actions, one missed the front of the ship, and then he heard a whiz again by the front and a second torpedo hit, but he controlled the ship well enough that it didn't absorb the third blow," said Brown.
A "blow" that could have been devastating to the more than 200 crewmen aboard the ship, according those who Brown spoke with who were on the ship at the time.
"In my heart he was a real hero, who saved the lives of many people."
Brown remembers his brother as a person he always looked up to when they were growing up during the early 1960s on Sixth Avenue in downtown Troy.
"He was my favorite brother, and he used to take me to the Troy Boys Club where we played basketball," he said. "He was boxing champ and a good athlete. I used to watch him box and he taught me a lot about baseball."
But after his brother joined the Navy in the late 1960s, the Brown family's tranquil lives would be changed forever. Michael Brown was only a 16-year-old high school sophomore when the 75-minute attack that occurred on June 8 off the Sinai Peninsula killed his brother.
His recollections of the moment he was informed about his brother's death are as clear to him now as the very day it happened.
"I was in class during second period, and my name was called over the loudspeaker to go to the office, and I was told my brother was wounded," he said. "But when I was driven home by the father (priest) of our parish, he stopped the car on the side of the road and told me my brother was killed. I was devastated, and I didn't care about school for a long time."
In 1991 after a long struggle with Troy City Hall to get a monument put up in Francis Brown's honor, a ceremony was held in Troy's Prospect Park near the flagpole and tennis courts, which unveiled the 3-foot-high granite monument that will make sure Brown's legacy will never be forgotten. More than 200 people from the area attended, and seven surviving members of the crew were on hand for the ceremony, coming from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii to honor a man who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his individual heroism during the attack.
"It was a very emotional day," said Trudy Brown. "This documents the importance of his life, because we didn't want him to be forgotten."
On the History Channel tonight at 8 p.m. a documentary will be broadcast about the subject. A tragic true story that the Brown family, and others like them, have painfully lived through. Yet, after so many years they are still left wondering what really happened that fateful day.
"Watching it will bring back some painful memories, said Michael Brown. "It'll bring tears to my eyes, because it should have never happened ... it was all for nothing. But I hope a lot of people watch, because nobody seems to remember or know about what happened.
Doubtful. I think your illness is sending you on flight of fantasy. I mean what kind of person spends a whole day pretending to be someone else? There are medical terms for such a character. And they generally end up in white jackets with strange sleeves.
The Jews are God's chosen people. YOUR country was founded in the Judeo-Christian tradition, with trust in "divine Providence." It is right for America to support Israel.
Let the whole world turn against us, still we will fight for the right side.
The other two fronts, the correspondent wrote, "will be Jerusalem and southern Palestine. The Grand Mufti, Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, will designate the leader of the Jerusalem front. It is said that the post will go to Abdel-Qadir Al-Husseini, while the southern front will be placed under the command of an Egyptian leading battalions of Egyptian volunteers as well as Libyans and the Bedouins of the Sinai Peninsula." The report concluded: "Of course, Taha Al-Hashimi Pasha who has been appointed General Inspector of the Arab Liberation Army will be supervising the overall logistics."
On 15 February, Al-Ahram's main banners announced: "Arab forces preparing to march on Palestine. Plans for the war of liberation. The regular armies' mission. Damascus to be the Arab Army Command headquarters." Below, the paper's correspondent in Beirut reported: "The Arab forces are ready to launch the Jihad outside and inside Palestine according to a master plan, to be implemented in several phases." He added: "Four thousand mujahidin [guerrillas] are fighting alongside the Palestinians inside the country, while hundreds of others are awaiting the orders of General Ismail Safwat to cross the borders under the command of Fawzi Al-Qawuqji."
The reporter went on to discuss the positions of the Arab regular armies: "On the southern front, Egyptian forces are stationed in Al-Arish and Rafah near the coast. Behind them are small Egyptian units stationed at various posts along the Egyptian-Palestinian borders." As for the Transjordan Army, the Al-Ahram correspondent in Beirut did not neglect to mention that "some of the units of that army are cooperating with the British troops". As for the Syrian and Lebanese armies, he noted: "Their forces constantly patrol the borders and carry out frequent military maneuvers before the Zionist settlements."
Though the role of these regular armies, reported Al-Ahram, "is not yet clear: there is speculations that they will enter the Arab areas evacuated by the British troops, and supervise from there the military operations carried out by the Arab Liberation Army." He added: "It is also possible, however, that these armies will engage in combat with the Zionists. Informed sources, however, assert that the Arab countries will not send their armies to fight inside Palestine as they are members of the UN. The sole mission of the Arab armies will be to police the area in order to cut off any weapons or food supplies to the Zionists in Palestine."
In an interview in Le Monde, reported in Al-Ahram the same day, Fawzi Al-Qawuqji said: "Major military operations have not started yet, but when the war breaks out, we will stun the Jews and the whole world. The war may last for a month; it could last for a century. But we will surely win."
As you see, they never accepted the partition plan, had been planning to attack with the professional armies (that is why they were so prepared to invade by the time Israel declared independence months later) and the irregular Arab forces were already engaged in fighting before Israel declared independence. Cutting off the food supplies is an act of war, and they were plotting to attack months before the British were to leave.
It's funny that you try to draw a line between the irregular Arab forces and the Arab armies. I doubt you would try to seperate the Stern gang from with the Jewish army. There are still irregular forces in the Arab lands today, such as Hamas, Hezbullah, Islamic Jihad, Al-Queda, and more.
Seems to me that Freepers have heard and heard this story many times.
Veronica is right, this has become a whipping boy story on this website, and it has nothing to do with this thread.
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