Word: pueblos
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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THROUGH the long, tense hours of the naval investigation into the capture of U.S.S. Pueblo, one conclusion has become dismally clear: the Navy was totally unprepared to protect Pueblo on a mission the hazards of which had been shrugged off at every level of command...
...witness before the court of inquiry last week was Rear Admiral Frank L. Johnson, former commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Japan, who had operational responsibility for Pueblo's mission. Most of Johnson's testimony was classified and presented behind closed doors. Later, however, he delivered a "sanitized" version in open court...
...bland, beefy hero of World War II who is now waiting out retirement, Johnson testified that while he had responsibility for Pueblo, he had no ships or planes under his command to send to her rescue. Contingency plans were developed calling for the Seventh Fleet and Fifth Air Force to provide help should it be needed...
...plans had an almost surrealistic quality, as if Pueblo were on a paper mission while the military played an elaborate game. Air Force jets were kept "on call" on Okinawa, 900 air miles from Wonsan, North Korea. However, it would have taken 21 hours to scramble the fighters and fly them to Pueblo's aid. Four fighter-bombers were supposed to be ready in South Korea, but they were armed with nuclear warheads and useless for such a mission. Air Force jets stationed in Japan were unavailable because a status-of-forces agreement prevented their use in any combat...
...sign anything, as long as they do not divulge classified military information or imperil other prisoners. A well-publicized official policy to this effect would drain confessions of any real significance, in the manner of the disclaimer that preceded the Government's own "confession" last month that the Pueblo was inside North Korean waters...