SAN DIEGO UNION                                                                                                                     March 6, 1999

WILLIAM L Mc GONAGLE
Was captain of Liberty during Israeli attack


ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES - Retired Capt. 
William L. McGonagle, who re-
ceived the Medal of Honor for 
heroism as skipper of the Navy 
ship Liberty when Israel unleashed 
a deadly attack on the intelligence-
gathering ship in 1967, has died. He 
was 73.

Capt. McGonagle died Wednes-
day in Palm Springs, where he 
lived, said Donald Pageler, editor 
of the Liberty News, a newsletter 
of the ship's survivors' 
association. Pageler did not know 
the cause of death.

Thirty-four crewmen were 
killed and 171 were injured when 
fhe Liberty was attacked by Israeli 
air force planes and torpedo boats 
in international waters north of 
Sinai during the Six Day War 
between Israel and its Arab 
neighbors.

The ship was bombed with na-
palm, torpedoed and shelled.
The attack, blamed on a mistak-
en identification of the Liberty as 
an Egyptian ship, remains one of 
the most controversial events in 
U.S.Israeli relations, and led to 
allegations of a cover-up by the 
governments that persist to the 
present day.

Capt. McGonagle, who was se-
verely wounded but stayed in com-
mand on the bridge through the 
battle and for many hours after-
ward, broke his silence years later 
and joined former shipmates in de-
manding the two governments re-
lease all details of the attack.
"I think it's about time that the
-state of Israel and the United- 
States government provide the 
crew members of the Liberty and 
the rest of the American people the 
facts of what happened, and why
the Liberty was attacked 30 years 
ago today," Capt. McGonagle said 
during a 1997 reunion of Liberty 
survivors in Washington, D.C.
"For many years I have wanted 
to believe that the attack on the 
Liberty was pure error," Capt. 
McGonagle said.

But "it appears to me that it was 
not a pure case of mistaken identi-
ty. It was, on the other hand, gross 
incompetence and aggravated 
dereliction of duty on the part of 
many officers and men of the state 
of Israel," he said.

Israel apologized to the United 
States but claimed that there had 
been a misidentification and that 
the ship's markings were made-
quate. Israel paid more than $12 
million in compensation.

At the 1997 reunion, retired 
Adin. Thomas H. Moorer, former 
Chief of Naval Operations and 
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, recalled with displeasure that 
Capt. McGonagle was decorated in 
1968 with the Medal of Honor at 
the Washington Navy Yard instead 
of at the White House.
Pageler, a new seaman at the 
time of the attack, said Capt. 
McGonagle was not embittered.
"My perception is he was 
probably a very good retired naval 
officer and for a lot of years kept 
his mouth shut," Pageler said. "... He 
finally spoke his piece and said he 
could not accept that the incident 
was an accident."

Capt. McGonagle did reveal 
emotion when he addressed 
reunions, Pageler said.
"His speech usually contains 
something to this effect, that he 
wears the Medal of Honor for the 
whole crew, that he couldn't give 
up his duties because his men 
weren't giving up their job to save 
the ship. And he usually choked 
(up) quite a bit," Pageler said.
James Ennis, author of the 
book "Attack on the Liberty," 
recounted Capt. McGonagle's 
actions the afternoon of the 
attack and through the night 
until the ship met other 
American naval elements the 
next morning.
Ennis, then a lieutenant, was 
being relieved as officer of the 
deck when the initial air attack 
began.

"He remained on the the 
bridge in the face of gunfire and 
napalm, Ennis said in a 
telephone interview from 
Washington state last night, "He 
was pretty badly wounded.  He 
was hit in the leg ... (by 
shrapnel), lost a lot of blood. He 
was very, very weak and he 
propped himself in a little chair 
next to the radar and stayed 
there all night."

When Capt. McGonagle 
became too weak, he lay down and 
navigated the ship by the North 
star and still gave orders to the 
helm,". Ennes said.

"The men have always made 
point that knowing the captain was 
alive and vigorous and in charge 
on the bridge inspired them in all 
the things they had to do," Ennis 
added.  He's been the hero of the 
crew all these years."
Born in Wichita, Kan., on Nov. 
19, 1925, Capt. McGonagle 
schooled in California and began 
his Navy service during World
Capt. McGonagle is survived 
by two daughters, Cindy of 
Portland, Ore., and Sandra 
McGonagle of Austin, Texas.
Memorial services were 
planned for Arlington National 
Cemetery and during the Liberty 
reunion in June at Virginia Beach , 
Va.