Word: bucher
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...most serious deficiency he discovered was the lack of equipment to destroy classified documents and secret electronic gear. Bucher tried repeatedly to obtain a destruct system for the electronics snooping devices, but his requests were turned down by the Navy. Instead, Pueblo was-issued fire axes and sledgehammers...
...destroy secret documents, Bucher installed an electric paper shredder and a small incinerator. The burner was totally inadequate for the amount of classified material Pueblo would carry. But Bucher could not know that because he was not even cleared for access to the ship's supersecret "research" compartment. His request for either a twin-mount 20-mm. or single-mount 40-mm. cannons to defend his vessel went unheeded by Navy brass. Instead, he was issued two .50-cal. machine guns that would be useless against another ship. The basic problem, said Bucher, was money. The original...
...Bucher, the grillings never let up. Brought before Super-C on his first day of captivity, he was told that he had two minutes to sign a confession or he would be shot. An officer held an automatic pistol to the back of his head. On the verge of total collapse, Bucher would only moan, "I love you, Rose. I love you, Rose." After the two minutes, and two clicks of the pistol, Bucher realized that his inquisitors were bluffing. As part of the softening-up process, he was then driven to a nearby prison to inspect a captured South...
Ultimate Threat. Finally, in desperation, the Communists used the ultimate threat. Unless he signed their text, they insisted, they would shoot all of Bucher's crew members one by one before his eyes, starting with the youngest. "I was convinced they would do it," Bucher testified. "I was convinced they were animals. I told them I would sign the confession. And I did sign it." Even as he did so, he carefully added false information, such as an incorrect serial number, in a last-gasp effort to show that the document was a lie. After he had signed...
While last week's court of inquiry focused on Bucher, his testimony cast a dismal light on the entire U.S. military chain of command. Even the White House was fully informed in advance about Pueblo and her mission, and must have been cognizant of the serious risk of provoking retaliation from the belligerent North Koreans. Yet the ship's dangerous, unprecedented mission was approached with extraordinary nonchalance...