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Release of the USS Pueblo Crew

Commander Bucher is released

At the same time the crew's release was being finalized at the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, the men were being transported there from Pyongyang. After an overnight trip, the Pueblo crew arrived at Sachon Bridge, which crossed the Military Demarcation Line. Sachon Bridge was known to Americans since the Korean War as the Bridge of No Return. After waiting in buses with covered windows and being given copies of the letter of apology to read, Commander Bucher was the first to be taken to the bridge. At 11:30 A.M., Bucher was told to cross the bridge and not look back. Following him was the coffin containing the corpse of Duane Hodges. The rest of the crewmembers were released in thirty-second intervals while the entire crews' taped confessions were broadcast over loudspeakers. The men were flown by helicopter to an Army hospital near Seoul. The next day, 24 December, the crew landed at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego for an emotional reunion with family and friends.

INVESTIGATION

A Navy Yeoman Second Class holds a U.S. flag, to be used to drape the coffin of Seaman Duane Hodges, who was killed when USS Pueblo (AGER-2) was captured by the North Koreans off Wonsan on 23 January 1968. Seaman Hodges' body was returned to American custody with the ship's other crewmen, at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, 23 December 1968.

On 27 December, Admiral John Hyland of CINCPACFLT ordered a "routine" Court of Inquiry comprised of five admirals headed by Vice Admiral Harold Bowen, Jr. to look into the events of the seizure. Amid much public opposition, the navy appeared to be on a witch hunt for CDR Bucher to hold him responsible for surrendering his ship and his men. The only positive attribute of the inquiry was that it provided a forum in which Bucher could voice his concerns about the inqdequate material readiness of the ship and the refusal by the upper echelon to properly prepare the ship, the crew, and a contingency plan for the mission. Following with the scapegoat theory, CDR Bucher was charged with violating a Navy regulation that he allowed his ship to searched and personnel taken captive by representatives of a foreign state. During one recess, Pueblo's Executive Officer Tim Harris slipped Bucher a dated note that read, "Captain, we've made it this far together and we'll finish it together," signed,"Bucher's Bastards." After nearly two months and 104 witnesses, the panel decided that CDR Bucher did not try hard enough and that he and Stephen Harris would be court martialed. The admirals also stated that except for eleven men, the crew's performance was unimpressive.

Bucher's Bastards note

A few weeks later, ADM Hyland reviewed the court's findings and contemplated a lengthy court-martial along with more public opposition and sent his recommendation to the Secretary of the Navy, John Chafee, to issue letters of admonition instead of a court-martial. Chafee released his final decision to not issue any punishment to any of the men, "that they have suffered enough, and further punishment would not be justified." The House of Representatives also undertook its own investigation that produced similar results.

Additional Sources:

www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker
www.chafee.navy.mil
www.history.navy.mil
www.anzwers.org
www.usspueblo.org

Recent Information Regarding the USS Pueblo

AWARDS

Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, USN, former Commanding Officer of USS Pueblo (AGER-2)Receives the Purple Heart medal for injuries he received while he was a prisoner of the North Koreans, in ceremonies held in 1969, shortly after he and his crew were released.
Pueblo and her crew were captured off Wonsan, North Korea, on 23 January 1968. The crew were released on 23 December 1969.

The men of the USS Pueblo were very brave and endured more than most people could only in their nightmares, yet the U.S. government was reluctant to recognize them for their gallantry. Following the release of the crewmembers, the Navy gave out many awards to people that were involved in the release of the crew and their care but the only award that was given out to the crew itself was the Purple Heart for those wounded in action. Additional military and civilian awards were given in the early 1970s. After the creation of a Prisoner of War medal in 1985, the Pueblo was specifically unauthorized to receive it since the U.S. was not technically at war with North Korea (although the Korean War was ended in armistice). In 1990, after much lobbying by CDR Bucher, among others, and an act of Congress, the POW medal was presented to every crewmember, including civilians, which was against Navy policy to issue military awards to non-military personnel. The sole casualty of the incident, Duane Hodges, was issued the Silver Star posthumously

STATUS OF THE SHIP

Sergeant Robert J. Chicca, U.S. Marine Corps, a USS Pueblo (AGER-2) crewman, greets his wife, Ann Marie, on his arrival at Naval Air Station Miramar, California, 24 December 1968. Pueblo's crew had been released from captivity by the North Korean government on 23 December. They had been captured off Wonsan on 23 January 1968.
Photographed by PHC V.O. McColley, USN.

Although North Korea released the crew, it did not return the ship itself. The ship remained in Wonsan for over thiry years serving various purposes, but its main purpose was being used as a propaganda piece for the North Koreans to exploit and boast its victory over the United States. During that thirty years on North Korea's east coast, it is also possible that Pyongyang provided the opportunity for the Soviet Union to examine the classified material and equipment. The North Koreans maintained the ship well and never repaired the many holes in the hull and superstructure from the attack.

RELOCATION

USS Pueblo on Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea

Sources indicate that in December 1998, the Pueblo was relocated. It was not just moved to another location on the east coast as it did many times in the thirty years after its capture; it was relocated to the Taedong River in Pyongyang, on the west coast of North Korea. Pyongyang knew the military and political risks it was taking in taking the ship in international waters and around the Korean peninsula, so it was likely disguised and loaded with explosives to prevent it from being re-captured. The operational status of the Pueblo is unknown but additional sources suggest that Pueblo was towed around the Korean peninsula and did not make the journey under its own power. It is believed that North Korea moved the ship to its current location to serve as a trophy as well as a tourist museum, especially since the site is also where another American ship, the General Sherman, was sunk in 1866. To add to the authenticity of the tour, the guide is Senior Colonel Kim Joong Rok, the commander of the first boarding party when it was hijacked.

Kim Joong Rok

Due to the fact that the USS Pueblo was never formally decommissioned, it is still held by the U.S. Navy as an active ship in commission. Many attempts by Pueblo crewmembers and Congressmen have been made to get the Pueblo or its flag repatriated to the U.S. but have obviously been unsuccessul. Hopefully, when North-South Korean summit meetings and unification talks progress, Pyongyang will eventually comply with these requests and give the surviving crewmembers, as well as those interested in the incident, some sense of closure.