Sailor Awarded Silver Star for '67 Actions U.S.S. Liberty

Sailor Awarded Silver Star for '67 Actions

www.military.com

A former Sailor whose quick action aboard the USS Liberty 42 years ago kept it from sinking was awarded a Silver Star Wednesday in the Visilia, Calif., office of Rep. David Nunes.

James "Terry" Halbardier repaired a damaged antenna while under fire by Israeli aircraft, which had already knocked out the ship's communications, according to James Ennes, an officer aboard the Liberty that day.

Israel has long claimed the attack was a case of mistaken identity.

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[edit on 29/5/09 by ProtoplasmicTraveler]

More news on the U.S.S. Liberty the American Navy Vessel made infamous in Israel’s 1967 attack of it by its air force and navy.

This Silver Star just awarded for bravery under fire during that incident which Israel long ago apologized for as being an accident while no discerning or fact finding mission was carried out.

Many believe it was a false flag attacked aimed at bring the U.S. in to the 1967 War.

Is history trying to warn us in this recent award ceremony to be wary of Israel as it beats war drums looking to attack Iran?


www.military.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Israeli Pilot Speaks Up
Fifteen years after the attack, an Israeli pilot approached Liberty survivors and then held extensive interviews with former Congressman Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey about his role. According to this senior Israeli lead pilot, he recognized the Liberty as American immediately, so informed his headquarters, and was told to ignore the American flag and continue his attack. He refused to do so and returned to base, where he was arrested.

Later, a dual-citizen Israeli major told survivors that he was in an Israeli war room where he heard that pilot's radio report. The attacking pilots and everyone in the Israeli war room knew that they were attacking an American ship, the major said. He recanted the statement only after he received threatening phone calls from Israel.

The pilot's protests also were heard by radio monitors in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dwight Porter has confirmed this. Porter told his story to syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak and offered to submit to further questioning by authorities. Unfortunately, no one in the U.S. government has any interest in hearing these first-person accounts of Israeli treachery.

Washington Report.org

Yes it's amazing to think Israel is our best ally! It's the only true democracy in the Middle East though where Jewish voters get to decied between candidates who want to attack Lebanon, Palistinians or Iranians and whether or not to attack the U.S. in some underhanded way first to try to get us here in the U.S.A. to do it for them!

That's always been a strange event in US military history.

The Captain of the Liberty received the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.

I find this extremely odd, because the Silver Star is a medal for valor against an enemy.

The official explanation for this incident, so far as I know, is that it was a tragic accident.

Certainly, at the time the Israelis and the US were not engaged in hostilities.

I suppose that it could be argued that the Israelis were at war and the incident was a case friendly fire.