Day: June 8, 2009

Today In History: 08 June

Two days ago we observed the invasion of Europe during WWII at the beaches of Normandy.  I got to thinking that there are other situations and occurrences that we do not normally celebrate but are somehow equally important.

I have included three (3) posts on historical events that have occurred on this day; one is the death of Thomas Paine and two on the attack on a US ship by the military of Israel in 1967.

There are somethings that need to be observed because it is the right thing to do….and not all are happy little successes.

Thank You, Thomas Paine

We as a people and a country could NEVER thank this patriot enough for his contributions! He is truly the “Father of the American Revolution”.

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine (June 8, 1809). The English pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, inventor, and intellectual. He lived and worked in Britain until age 37, when he emigrated to the British American colonies, in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contribution was the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America’s independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.

The strength of Common Sense was not in the originality of its ideas, but rather in the simplicity of its style.[ Paine was a pioneer in a new style of political writing suitable to the kind of democratic society he envisioned. Common Sense rendered complex ideas intelligible to average readers, with clear, concise writing unlike the formal, learned style favored by many of Paine’s contemporaries.

He was, in my opinion, the first blogger. He is also a largely forgotten Founding Father. History has not been kind to this extraordinary man. Without Paine’s input with his pamphlet “Common Sense” the revolution that the rich elite had started would have failed. Paine made it understandable to the masses, thus they became the power behind the revolution. He took the abstract theories and made them simple and easy for the normal colonial to understand. Without his capability of the written word all would have been lost in the revolt against England. All those wealthy land owners would have been hanged and the rule of the day would have stayed around for many more years.

When I was a young boy of about 12 years old, my grandfather gave me a copy of Common Sense, and to say that it changed my life would be an understatement. At first, it was just words, but as time moved on I started seeing what Thomas Paine was saying and from about 14 or 15 I became the radical independent I am today. His style of writing inspired me in my later years to try and write in a style where normal, average Americans can understand complicated political theories. I have refused to cloud things up with words no normal individual would use, that is Paine’s influence.

The United States cannot do enough to thank this patriot for his contribution to the establishment of this country. But for some reason he has been left out of the history books, with the exception of his “Common Sense”. I have even gone so far as to suggest that Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence from notes given to him by Paine. I do not think that Jefferson was capable of writing such a document on his own.

On this day, the day of his death, all I can really say is THANK YOU, THOMAS PAINE! We owe you so much and gave you so little….I am sorry.

Another Day Of Infamy

Today is 8 June and an anniversary of sorts.  This is excerpts of an article written for LewRockwell.com by Eric S. Margolis:

On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the intelligence ship ‘USS Liberty’ was steaming slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the retreating Egyptian army.

‘Liberty,’ a World War II freighter, had been converted into an intelligence vessel by the top-secret US National Security Agency, and packed with the latest signals and electronic interception equipment. The ship bristled with antennas and electronic ‘ears’ including TRSSCOMM, a system that delivered real-time intercepts to Washington by bouncing a stream of microwaves off the moon.

At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over ‘Liberty,’ which was flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of low-flying Israeli Mystere and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly attacked the American vessel with rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on the ship’s electronic antennas and dishes. The ‘Liberty’ was left afire, listing sharply. Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the captain, Commander William McGonagle.

At 1424 hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning ‘Liberty’ with 20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the ‘Liberty’ midship, precisely where the signals intelligence systems were located. Twenty-five more Americans died.

Israeli gunboats circled the wounded ‘Liberty,’ firing at crewmen trying to fight the fires. At 1515, the crew were ordered to abandon ship. The Israeli warships closed and poured machine gun fire into the crowded life rafts, sinking two. As American sailors were being massacred in cold blood, a rescue mission by US Sixth Fleet carrier aircraft was mysteriously aborted on orders from the White House.

An hour after the attack, Israeli warships and planes returned. Commander McGonagle gave the order. ‘prepare to repel borders.’ But the Israelis, probably fearful of intervention by the US Sixth Fleet, departed. ‘Liberty’ was left shattered but still defiant, her flag flying.

The Israeli attacks killed 34 US seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of 297, the worst loss of American naval personnel from hostile action since World War II.

Less than an hour after the attack, Israel told Washington its forces had committed a ‘tragic error.’ Later, Israel claimed it had mistaken ‘Liberty’ for an ancient Egyptian horse transport. US Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, and Joint Chiefs of Staff head, Admiral Thomas Moorer, insisted the Israeli attack was deliberate and designed to sink ‘Liberty.’ So did three CIA reports; one asserted Israel’s Defense Minister, Gen. Moshe Dayan, had personally ordered the attack.

If you want a Day Of Infamy, then 8 June 1967 ranks up there with another you may choose.

I also interviewed sailor that was on board the Liberty and will post it in my next section.

USS Liberty Incident

USS Liberty Incident

Recently I visited a local Naval Retirement Home with the hopes of interviewing some WWII vets and to get some interviews for a piece I was working on about the feelings the vets had after the war was over and if there were any problems readjusting to civilian life.  There were 4 vets at the home, two were away visiting family, 1 was in the hospital and the last did not want to talk.

My try was a bust!  I was sitting in the on property “food court” having a sandwich and coffee and trying desparately to think of another topic to write on.  About halfway through my meal a guy approached me and asked me what ship I served on.  Well, I was surprised at first and then told him I had served in the Army.  Then jokingly ask me, “what the hell is a grunt doing here?”  I smiled and told him about my idea for an article.  He thought for a few minutes, then said “that’s bullshit, boy”.  “Ever heard of the USS Liberty attack?”  I thought and thought, but could not come up with a good answer other than no, when was that?

He started his story and told me to take notes.  I did as I was told.

The gentlemen had been a bridge officer on the USS Liberty, a sigint ship.  A ship used to intercept signal intel and process it.  The date was 8 June 1967 and the ship was in international waters off the Sinai.  On 8 june the ship was flown over by Israeli recon planes and according to the officer when the crew on deck saw it was Israeli they began to wave and as the plane flew over it dipped its wings in recognition.  Next they were approached by several Mirage III jets, the French jets that only Israel flew at the time and they fired on the ship and then the ship was attacked by three Israeli gunboats with torpedoes.  The ships leadership did not fire back and the ship was flying a large American flag and has its ship’s ID clearly posted.

The gentleman told me that 34 sailors had died and that the crew recieved orders to not discuss the situation or the attack under threat of courtsmartial.  He said that the inquiry into the attack had found that it was an accident and was regrettable.  He laughed and said, “The SOBs knew exactly what they were doing and the bullshit about being missed ID as an Egpytian ship was an outright lie.”  I ask him what about the other ship.  He said the ship in question was about half the size of the Liberty and had Arabic ID, not in English.

He told me to this day he hated Israel, not because of some religious bullshit (his term) but because the assholes (his term) killed some very good friends and good sailors.  He said the sooner someone squashes the worthless fuckers (his term),  the better he will sleep.

We talked a bit more and he gave me two websites he said for me to check out and then make my decision.  He then aburptly stopped talking and said “gotta go, the ladies are waiting”.

http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ussliberty.html

http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com/index2.html

http://www.uss-liberty.com/

This is an extremely interesting case–I have read as much as I could digest on this attack and I prefer to believe the sailors that experienced the horror.

But I say check it out for yourself and decide who is right and who is wrong.

22/12/04

Postscript–I thought about this piece and decided to show it to the gentleman I had talked with;  when I went to talk with him I was told he had died from a stroke.  The Naval Home was destroyed by hurricane Katrina in ’05 and the residents were dispersed thus I lost a possible source of other people that knew the gentleman.  I spent most of January 07 deciding whether to publish the story or just let the whole thing go.  I decided to tell the part that I got from the aged sailor and let the reader decide for themselves.