Survivors of '67 Israeli attack
                   reunite in a wave of emotions

                 Liberty shipmates continue to press
              for explanation of raid that killed 34

                      San Diego Union-Tribune
                           June 12, 1995
                            by Ed Jahn
                           Staff Writer

Twenty-eight years later, there is still a lot of anger but very few
answers for the men of the Liberty.

     "I can't say I'm bitter," said retired Navy Captain William
McGonagle of Escondido, who commanded the converted transport ship on
June 8, 1967, when it was attacked by Israeli aircraft and torpedo
boats.

     "But in our time of greatest need, we received no assistance from
the U.S. Navy.  And to this day, I still don't know why," said
McGonagle, 69, who was awarded a Medal of Honor for his efforts that
day.

     The questions remained this weekend when 35 survivors of the
episode met for a reunion in downtown San Diego to discuss ways of
finally bringing the full story of the Liberty to light.

     Don Pageler, 49, of Westminster in Orange County, was a seaman on
the Liberty that day in 1967.  The years since have been agonizing.

     I've had it come crashing down on me physically and emotionally,"
he said.  "For my own health, I can't deal with that anger anymore."

     Many of the survivors still "feel like second-class veterans."  And
Pageler, although wounded in the incident, said he has fought
"survivor's guilt" for living through it.

     "I just want an explanation, and I want people to know what
happened," Pageler said.  "It's like you were walking in the park and
somebody took a shot at you.  There might be a good answer, but you want
to know why."

     Saturday, the survivors commemorated the naming of a Fleet Training
Center facility after Alexander Thompson, a gunner's mate killed at his
station.  The group also decided to hold their next reunion in
Washington so they could bring their message to Congress.

     Thirty-four men were killed and 171 wounded in the attack that has
officially been regarded as a case of mistaken identity.

     Although it was later revealed that the 455-foot Liberty was a
clandestine intelligence ship, it was a noncombatant and most likely
fired none of its only armaments: four .50 caliber machine guns that
were quickly knocked out by gunfire and napalm.

     "We were defenseless," McGonagle said.

     Coming during the middle of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, the
attack on the Liberty was overshadowed by other stories and muffled by
immediate and profuse apologies from the Israelis.

     Regrets notwithstanding, some say official inquiries and private
investigations have shown that the attack is fraught with contradictions
and inconsistences at odds with the mistaken-identity explanation.

     The Liberty was well within international waters, it was clearly
marked and flying a U.S. flag, and it had been under surveillance by
Israel since the preceding day.  The attack came in broad daylight and
lasted about 75 minutes.

     Israel has said it thought the Liberty was an Egyptian vessel
suspected of shelling an Israeli town.  But the Liberty had no artillery
and looked nothing like the suspect ship, which had never left port.

     There have been other sensational cases of mistaken identity and
confusion similar to the Liberty incident over the years, including the
downing of an Iranian airliner by the cruiser Vincennes in 1988.  And a
military trial is under way concerning the downing of two U.S.
helicopters by U.S. jets over Iraq last year in a case of "friendly
fire."

     If it is possible to fire on your own aircraft in peacetime, why
should mistaken identity in the confusion of war be any different? ask
Israel's defenders.

     Further, they say:  What would be the gain of killing sailors of a
staunch ally?

     The Liberty was not the only intelligence operation in the area,
and it was located far away from the war zone.  And in the hours before
the attack, several messages were sent to the Liberty to pull back, but
those messages were misrouted.

     "I've come to have a critical eye of what is done (in Israel),"
said Frank O'Classen, 51, of Chula Vista, who was an electronics
technician aboard the Liberty.

     "Israel could never convince me it was a mistake.  It was too well
planned and executed.  They blew up every life-raft station.  I have no
doubt in my mind that they knew what they were doing and they didn't
want any survivors."

     One compelling theory, some say, is that the Israelis had found out
that the Liberty was gathering intelligence and was capable of
intercepting their plans for the war.

     Israeli officials wanted to invade Syria and capture the Golan
Heights, but knew the U.S. was opposed to the move because it might
widen the conflict, Liberty survivors surmise.

     By incapacitating the Liberty, the Israelis were able to gain
enough time without the U.S. intervening, they said.

     "I don't think it's plausible to say that those things just
happen," McGonagle said.

     "Every man on that ship deserves a piece of this," he added,
touching the blue Medal of Honor ribbon around his neck.


                               --END--