Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post

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      The Liberty made several port calls in Abidjan during my tour of duty in
the Foreign Service (1965-68), and its mission as a sophisticated
communications ship was no secret. The captain and crew were always
gracious hosts, both to the American community and to Ivorians. Local
children were invited to shipboard parties with toys, ice cream and
cake, and we in the American community visited the ship with our kids,
who also enjoyed the gracious hospitality of the U.S. Navy.

During one call, the ship's cook told me he had been visited by a local
French chef interested in learning how Americans make hamburger buns.
Capt. McGonagle himself was gracious enough to pose for a photo with our
toddler son, Mike, with his toy from the ship -- photo and toy now
cherished pieces of family memorabilia.

The skipper, a very affable, congenial man, would bring several of his
officers to Ambassador George Morgan's residence to join our continuing
Saturday volleyball games. It was great fun. However, they failed to
show one Saturday morning during the Liberty's latest call. We soon
learned that the ship had quietly slipped away and that the visit and
related events had been canceled. Several days later, conflagration in
the Mediterranean explained the mystery of the Liberty's sudden,
unscheduled departure.

ROBERT M. FOUCHE
Arlington

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The Post's obituary of Capt. William McGonagle, skipper of the USS
Liberty, ambushed by the Israelis on June 8, 1967, is a courageous
remembrance of a perfidious sneak attack -- after decades of calculated
coverup and shunning.

During the days of the event, as American consul at Stuttgart, Germany,
I assisted Air Force Gen. David Burchinal, who was in charge of U.S.
Armed Forces in Europe and North Africa at the time, in planning the
evacuation of Americans from North Africa and the Middle East. The
evacuation later comprised more than 30,000 Americans.

At one point the general asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Who, repeat
who, are the enemy?" -- meaning Soviets or Israelis. And the Joint
Chiefs did not answer for two days. Aside from other uncertainties in
the fluid situation, a cruel enigma remains: Why were two fighters
launched by the Sixth Fleet to rescue the Liberty recalled almost at
once to their carrier? Who gave superior orders to the Sixth Fleet?
Was the Liberty wittingly abandoned to bloody attack?

GEORGE F. BOGARDUS
Bethesda

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