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| Beth Emley/Messenger Post Staff | June 06, 2002 |
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Posted on 06/07/2002 5:56:44 PM PDT by RCW2001
| 'No one ever apologized' |
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John Hrankowski will be miles away from Arlington National Cemetery this weekend, but he will be close in spirit as fellow crewmates from the USS Liberty gather to remember the 35th anniversary of an Israeli attack on an American intelligence ship.
The Greece man said his health is preventing him from attending the "No Greater Love Remembrance Ceremony" Saturday in Washington, D.C., where crewmates will pause to remember the 34 who died and 172 wounded during the June 8, 1967 air and sea attack. The attack occurred during the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab states.
"It's got to be rectified because we didn't get killed. We're still here," said Hrankowski, who was 19 at the time of the attack and earned a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered.
The attack is controversial because Israel claimed it mistook the USS Liberty for an out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El Quseir and that the U.S. was operating in a war zone without displaying a flag.
Hrankowski and other Americans dispute that account. They say the ship was in international waters, away from fighting, and that the American flag was flying.
Ever since the USS Liberty Veterans Association formed 20 years ago, Hrankowski - the only known USS Liberty survivor in Monroe County and one of only a few in the state - has been an outspoken advocate, talking to groups all over the country to tell the full story.
"Our government said Israel apologized and paid, but the Israelis have not answered and no one ever apologized," Hrankowski said.
According to information on the USS Liberty website, Lyndon Johnson in his memoirs called the attack "a tragic accident." Robert McNamara, his secretary of defense, stated "I didn't believe [the attack] was intended at the time, and I don't believe it now."
But Dean Rusk, Johnson's secretary of state, differed, saying: "I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink Liberty precluded an assault by accident or some trigger-happy local commander. I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it to this day. The attack was outrageous."
Hrankowski, 55, still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder because of wounds he suffered from being hit by metal pieces from explosives during the attack.
A former deputy sheriff with the Monroe County Court system, he left work because of his health 10 years ago. Over the past 10 years, he's endured colon surgery and a heart attack - in addition to the ongoing mental trauma.
"There's not a night I've slept a full night," said Hrankowski.
Hrankowski was 21 when he was discharged from the Navy in November of 1969 and returned to Rochester with his wife, Mary Ann, whom he married a few months before getting out of the service.
Hrankowski said for years, there wasn't much publicity about the attack until the early 1980s, when the Veterans Association formed.
During that time period, survivor Jim Ennes, an officer who witnessed the attack, wrote "Assault on the Liberty," which tells the story.
Since then, another book, "Body of Secrets," was written by another survivor, James Bamford, and a History Channel special called "Cover-up Attack on the USS Liberty," was aired four times this year.
A European film about the USS Liberty is about to be released, along with a book written by a Pulitzer-prize winning author, Hrankowski said.
Hrankowski and other veterans traveled to Washington earlier this year to talk to U.S. congressmen about the incident. He said there could be hearings in the future, but nothing is definite yet.
Because of the anniversary of the attack, Hrankowski said he's been deluged with requests for interviews from the local and national media, including MSNBC and CNN.
Hrankowski said publicity helps the cause, but what veterans want is full disclosure to Congress.
"All we want is to have everything released," he said. "We're just asking them to give us a shot like every other incident and have it documented for history and let us be on our way."
For more information on the USS Liberty attack, go to the website at www.ussliberty.org. The website was created by Jim Ennes and Joe Meadors, two survivors of the attack.
Certainly changes nothing for the covetous or the judgement prone. I can suspect that you know that his parents/family/in-laws did not leave him the property or an estate which could purchase such property.
Since he was harmed by Israel he surely does not deserve to have a pool or a home or an opinion, for that matter.
Interesting Thought. Only Zionists or their sympathizers deserve to own.... ..
You are welcome.
One the main questions I have is what kind of ship did the Israelis think they were firing up? Which Egyptian or Syrian ships did they confuse the Liberty with?
Here are direct links to the pics from the www.ussliberty.org site. This site, of course, heavily advocates the idea that the attack was pre-meditated and that the Isrealis knew who they were attacking. I could not find anything I would accept as "proof."
Both ships are roughly the same size and shape with minor difference in the bridge and stack. Close enough that some excited sailors sent to check out a ship that might be an enemy ship, one they thought might be in the area, could easily mistake.
I know that even after examining the photos, if you put both boats in the water and me in another on the horizon (remember they didn't cruise up and circle it a few times while consulting their ID book- they were miles away). As soon as they got close enough to make a reasonable ID, they did (in spite of the visual effects of her hull-down postion over the horizon, light sparkling off the med and playing its usual visual tricks, and the report of two jets that had overflown at high speed, and given an ambiguous description).
The pictures are at different angles, but try to visualize them at the same angle and half the size (in the water, bobbing up and down) as in the photos.
Some people are too transparent for their own good.
The Israelis said they thought the Liberty was an Egyptian horse carrier. Let me see if I understand that. Israel is in a fight to the death to save itself. Suddenly, even as the Arab cutthroats are advancing on Israel itself, the IDF discovers a new danger.. the dastardly Egyptians have launched it secret weapon, a horse carrier. Front line fighters are deverted from the battle and the dreaded horse carrier is attacked thru out the day.Israel is saved as the horse carrier changes course and moves away.
yea, thats what happened
As a lady, I cannot repeat what my daddy said about the above. Suffice it to say that he called into question the eyesight and intelligence of anyone who could mistake the USS LIBERTY for a horse carrier. By the way, the name of a ship or sub is always in caps, as I learned when I worked for the Navy. I therefore took the liberty of changing it in the quote posted above.
And here's the real point of that observation that you brainiacs missed - My "observation" makes as much sense as posting this article. I have just as much proof of my accusation as those who charge that the Isrealis did it on purpose people. Get it Now! You people make this too easy.
Not just the current crisis. Many of these posters will use any excuse and any source to attack Israel/Zionists/etc.
There's no doubt the attack on the Liberty was a horrific error. To suggest that it was part of some larger ZOG plot however defies both logic and common sense. It's pointless to debate with RCW2001 and his friends - they have their own agenda.
You're too smart for words! I'm amazed. Someone better call Rumsfeld and tell him not to use peacetime commercial transports to haul war material if we run out of air and sealift capability because bybybill says a horsecarrier can only carry horses.
If you are at war with someone, and one of their ships heads your way, you sink - whether its carrying horses or horse-s**t. Just because it carried horses before the war started doesn't mean you should assume that's what it carries the next time around.
Have you considered applying for a job as a baggage screener? There won't be any delays at the airports with you on the job casue you'll just assume they all have clothes in them.
But I guess seeing a ship from the air with antennas sticking out all over it can be confusing /s
If you can't do better than that, then I rest my case. If the fact that I'd never heard of Greece NY, in spite of the fact that the full location did not appear in the article, is all it takes for you to dismiss me, then discussing anything with you is a waste of time.
You do the same. It was pleasant conversing with you.
When you were teaching the troops how to ID ships, what did you say was the danger from Egyption horse carriers?
If you really are exmilitary, why aren`t you upset over the needless murder of our guys BY A FOREIGN COUNTRY? No excuses, they did it, killed 34 Americans for no good reason and they haven`t paid.
It`s OK to throw insults at me, I`m not a new guy, but please respect those sailors that lost their lives on the Liberty. The Israelis owe them and us,an honest explaination. Don`t you agree?
The requested document does not exist on this server.
What gives?
Instead of reading psyop's dog and pony show justifications for the killing of American servicemen, read the first hand account of what happened written by the brave American veterans who were lucky enough to survive the attack. Start here: www.ussliberty.org
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