NOVANEWS
Victor Thorn is a hard-hitting researcher, journalist and the author of over 30 books.
BOOK REVIEW
• Gripping book recommended reading for all patriots
By Bartow Van Ness III
What I Saw That Day details the experience of crewman Phil Tourney, while on the USSLiberty (GTR-5), during the attack by Israeli forces on June 8, 1967, resulting in the deaths of 34 American servicemen and 170 wounded. It is a story of extreme heroism on the part of the ship’s company, resulting in the Liberty incident being brought to the attention of the American people.
From a first-hand account the author brings forth the viciousness of the attack on a ship that had a large American flag displayed, the carnage inflicted on her crew and the tremendous damage done, which included over 820 bullet and shrapnel holes and areas burned by napalm and a torpedo hole the size of a house.
The book is quite disturbing because of not only the attack by our supposed ally, but also that it exposes the fact that our own government has tried to keep the truth from the American people for 45 years.
Tourney pulls no punches when he describes how the crew was treated by Adm. Isaac Kidd, with threats of court-martial and imprisonment “or worse” if they told anyone what they saw.
The surviving crewmembers were later broken up and dispersed to other ships and told not to discuss the incident with anyone, including their own families. Many never said anything for at least 20 years, for fear of reprisal. As time went on, crewmembers started to come forth and talk.
High-ups in the U.S. government, including President Lyndon Johnson, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and admirals John S. McCain and Kidd, were energetically involved in trying to keep the truth from being told.
In October 2003, Capt.Ward Boston, outraged at the cover-up, came forth and issued a legal affidavit that he had been ordered by Johnson to conclude that the attack on Liberty was a case of mistaken identity and that he was given one week to gather information when he estimated that a proper court of inquiry for an official Navy investigation would take at least six months to complete, due to the magnitude of the attack.
Tourney was given a free trip to Naples and Rome, all expenses paid by the Navy, while the investigation was being conducted when Liberty was in dry-dock in Malta being repaired. This was done because he was one of the key witnesses to the attack, and he was wanted out of the way.
A group of Liberty survivors were invited by President George H.W. Bush to visit with him concerning Liberty and were kept waiting for two hours by him, and then told he was too busy. Many of the group of 50 had traveled long distances for the event. The captain ofLiberty was almost at the point of tears. Tourney describes this in no uncertain terms as being “bushwhacked.”
Many prominent figures have questioned the findings of the court of inquiry concerningLiberty and have been staunch supporters of the crew. They include former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Thomas Moorer, Adm. Merling Staring, former Congressional Reps. Pete McCloskey, John Hostettler and Cynthia McKinney, CIA officer Philip Giraldi, Ambassador Richard Peck, Israeli dissident Mordecai Vanunu, former Under Secretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, former director of the Army War College Alan Sabrosky and many others.
Tourney very succinctly states that by the crew saving Liberty, WWIII was prevented, because Egypt would have been blamed for the attack. He also states the attack on Libertywas a forerunner to Sept. 11, 2001.
