Sunday, January 30, 2005
Crewman recalls attack on USS Liberty
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By MICHAEL REED
Staff Writer
On a sunny summer day in the Mediterranean Sea, Earnest Gallo remembers how the lives of 300 Americans were changed forever.
They were the crew of the USS Liberty, and their mission was to gather intelligence on June 8, 1967, during the Six Day War between Israel and nearby Arab nations. The Liberty was a converted World War II cargo ship loaded with state-of-the-art spy equipment from a time before the U.S. relied on satellites for information.
Gallo, 60, was a communications technician on his way topside after lunch. Suddenly, he heard rockets and commands over the intercom.
"General quarters, general quarters," the Palm Coast resident recalled. "This is no drill. We're under attack."
More than 170 people were wounded and 34 were killed, and the controversy over what really happened continues to this day.
The barrage lasted more than an hour. Three Israeli torpedo boats launched at the ship, and Gallo remembers the order to brace for impact.
"You're ready to say, 'Oh Lord, here I come,' " Gallo said.
One torpedo struck the ship, killing 25 of the crew instantly, but Gallo said it could have been worse.
"Two foot forward or two foot aft, we could have been split apart and gone down," Gallo said.
Phil Tourney, of Cedaredge, Colo., was at the forward gun mount on the starboard side of the ship. He said it was difficult to explain what happened next.
"It just picked the whole ship out of the water," said Tourney, 58. "It was so explosive."
The ship listed and began taking on water.
The 7,725-ton technical research ship, lightly armed, was also strafed by Israeli fighter jets and napalmed.
Crew members said the ship was defenseless as the bombs dropped and bullets flew.
"They pounded us and pounded us and pounded us," Tourney said. "It was unreal."
When the attack was over, the Liberty steamed away from the area under its own power until it rendezvoused with U.S. Navy ships that provided an escort to Malta.
"I can't say enough about how they built this World War II cargo ship," Gallo said.
It was scrapped three years later.
Following the attack, Israel promptly apologized and said military commanders mistook the Liberty for an Egyptian ship. But some surviving members of the Liberty's crew said the attack was intentional and the U.S. government has covered it up for almost 40 years to protect its ally.
"Our government allowed this to happen because of politics," Gallo said.
James Ennes, who was the junior officer of the deck during the attack, said Israeli planes circled the Liberty more than a dozen times before the attack. They thought it was for surveillance, but at about 2 p.m., two or three jets made strafing runs, he said.
"This time they came down the center line shooting," Ennes said.
Ennes, 71, of Woodinville, Wash., is the author of "Assault on the Liberty," and he said the attack was intentional and the Israelis knew they were firing on a U.S. Navy vessel.
But A. Jay Cristol, a federal bankruptcy judge from Miami, said the attack was a tragic mistake. Driven by curiosity and fascination, Cristol spent years researching the events that took place almost 38 years ago, and he wrote "The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship."
Cristol, 75, said he concurs with the Israeli and U.S. governments, and the attack was not planned or deliberate. And he said he has documents and audio recordings to prove it.
These books have stirred the emotions of people involved with the incident, and the debate rages on.
For their part, many sailors aboard the Liberty remain close. Tourney said they want to keep talking about the incident to expose the truth.
"I think the men that died aboard the ship deserve it."
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