They say a picture is worth a thousand words. We have hundreds of photos of the damage done by the attack. How many words do our pictures tell about the USS Liberty?
by Joe Meadors
Yes, Virginia. There was an attack on the USS Liberty. That may seem to be a novel way to begin a blog post by a USS Liberty survivor. It’s liberally based on a September 21, 1897 editorial in the New York’s Sun written by Francis Pharcellus Church in response to 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s question to the editor, “Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?”
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Francis Pharcellus Church, Sept. 21, 1897 Editorial in the New York’s Sun
The first paragraph of Mr. Church’s editorial can be modified only slightly to address the skepticism some feel about the facts about the attack on our ship.
To address that skepticism and hoping they will believe what they see, let me provide some photos taken following the attack:
This is an antenna mount that received a direct hit 
This is an antenna mount that received multiple direct hits. 
Multiple hits on antenna mount. 
Before this blood was dry Senator Jacob Javits was on the Senate floor claiming the attack was an accident. 
There were USS Liberty crewmen in this guntub when the rockets hit. 
There were USS Liberty crewmen in this guntub when the rockets hit. 
I’ll never forget the blood in the forward 50 cal. gun tub sloshing back and forth as the ship rolled. Wish I had a camera that day.
Wayne Stiles, co-pilot on the first helicopter to reach the USS Liberty following the Israeli attack
Hundreds more photos of the damage inflicted upon the USS Liberty during the attack can be found in the Photos section of our official Facebook Page.
If the physical damage to the ship does not support our effort to ensure the US government finally investigates the attack, consider those killed during the attack.
In the 54+ years since the attack, not a single Member of Congress has attended a Memorial Service honoring those fallen during the attack. There was a time when we held an annual Memorial Service at the site of the mass grave in Arlington National Cemetery, Mass Grave #1817, Section 34 on the anniversary of the attack. That Memorial Service was moved to the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC when it became difficult for some of our supporters to make the walk to the mass grave.
Not a single Member of Congress ever attended or sent an official delegation to attend any of those annual Memorial Services.
Here are those Killed in Action during the attack on the USS Liberty that Members of Congress have deemed to be unworthy of publicly displaying their honor, support and compassion.
Members of Congress live for the opportunity of expressing public affirmations of honor, support and compassion for those lost on the USS Pueblo, USS Stark and USS Cole and the 1983 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut.
Members of Congress never miss the opportunity of attending a Memorial Service for those lost in those attacks.
But not for the USS Liberty.
Why is it ok to refuse to attend a Memorial Service for those lost on the USS Liberty?
Where is the outrage?
What did we do that resulted in our being a pariah in the Halls of Congress?
If your son, daughter, father or mother were killed in action and their deaths were treated so disrespectfully by Members of Congress would you sit idly by and allow it to happen?