USS Liberty
Friends of the USS LIBERTY,
At long last, the book “What I Saw That Day…Israel’s 1967 Holocaust of American Servicemen Aboard The USS Liberty And Its Aftermath” by USS Liberty Survivor Phil Tourney is finished and available to the public in electronic media format.
Excerpts from the book–
“How could we have known any better? It was, after all, only about twenty years since WWII was over, and growing up in America, we had all gotten a heavy dose of how badly these people had been treated. How could we not root for poor, seemingly defenseless Israel?…”
–Ch 1–The Trail of Tears
“General Quarters alarm was sounded. I made my way to my duty station, which was one deck above the mess decks. After going down the ladder, I slipped and fell and found myself under the trampling feet of sailors as they made their way to their stations. I rolled over to my right side to get out of their way, got on my feet and joined the stampede to get to my station as well. I got into battle-dress and got my gear ready.”
“On my way back to the deck, I saw the passageways were littered with wounded men. All were bloody and moaning. My shipmates would call out to me and ask me for help. Some of them would ask me, as if I were a doctor, “Hey, man, can you do something about this?” I got to the bridge and saw that Captain McGonagle was badly wounded in the leg but still in command. Rocket and cannon holes were everywhere. Burning napalm was dripping through the holes and into the bridge compartment. I tried hitting the napalm with the Co2 canisters I had, but the fire was so intense, that the Co2 was basically useless. I requested a fire team with water hoses. In hindsight, I realize this was just a waste of time, since the hoses had been shot up like a snake hit with birdshot from a shotgun.”
“Before I left, I looked at my good friend, Francis Brown – a Third-Class Quartermaster, who was steering the ship. We were good friends. We drank beer together, played cards and whatnot. We stood there for a moment, not saying a word but simply locking eyes.
I went to find more Co2 canisters. As soon as I got a hold of one, I flew back up the port ladder to get to the bridge. When I got to the top, I stepped in something wet, causing me to slip and fall on my back violently. The Co2 canister flew out of my hands and came crashing down with a bang that caused everyone, including McGonagle, to look in my direction.
As soon as I got up, I saw what it was that had caused me to slip and fall. My good friend, Francis Brown had caught a machine gun bullet or a piece of shrapnel in the back of the head and his blood was everywhere. His eyes were closed but his face was swelled up like a balloon. It was something that no human being should ever have to see and especially when it is your good friend.
My first thought when seeing this was “Those Arab bastards, they just blew my friend to pieces…”
–Chapter 2–Those Arab Bastards
“At last, the jets realized they would not succeed in sinking us. They called off their attack and left. Before we could breathe a sigh of relief however, the voice of Captain McGonagle came over the intercom, ordering the ship’s crew to prepare for torpedo hit, starboard side.
I looked out to see the torpedo boats coming at us at a high rate of speed. Unlike the jets, the torpedo boats were proudly flying their flag, a Star of David. When I saw the flag and the high rate of speed they were coming at us, I breathed a sigh of relief. Foolishly, I assumed that our beloved ally had scared off the jets and were coming to our rescue.
The delusion lasted for only a minute until I saw the splash of several torpedoes being dropped in the water as they headed towards us. Unable to find a big enough vein during the first time with the air assault, the vampire now moved to a different part of our neck, searching out the jugular.”
–Chapter 2–Rude Awakening
“As the helicopter hovered over us at about fifty feet above the deck, I could see that my worst suspicions had been proven correct. This was not a rescue helicopter. Instead, there were commandos, special forces, armed with sub-machineguns used for close-quarter combat.
I knew immediately they were not here to give us help. They were here to finish what their fellow assassins had been unable to accomplish. They were going to murder the entire crew of the USS Liberty. Then, once we were all dead and they were free to move about as they pleased, they would place explosives in strategic areas of the ship, detonate them and sink us all. The perfect crime, leaving no witnesses.
As the helicopter hovered for a moment, I saw that the troops inside were preparing to board the ship. From no more than 75 feet away, I stood like a dumb-ass in an open doorway where they had a clear shot at me. I locked eyes with one of my would-be assassins who was sitting on the floor of the helicopter. His legs were hanging out, and he had one foot on the skid below as he waited for the order to repel down to the ship’s deck and finish us all off.”
Ch 4–Staring Into The Eyes Of The Devil
“Despite the fact it had not saved us from being attacked the day before, the crew of the Liberty was excited to see the red, white and blue flag of our beloved homeland being displayed on the other ships as they approached. Someone’s voice, (I don’t know whose) came over the ship’s intercom announcing that a destroyer was coming alongside the Liberty. The water was like a sheet of smooth glass – not a ripple to be found. The USS Davis came up alongside us until we were separated only by inches. They threw over about half a dozen lines. We caught them and tied the two ships together. As soon as the ships were wed, a plank was put in place and the men of the Davis started boarding our ship. There were about thirty or forty of them, to my guess.
The emotions of the Davis crew ranged from fury to devastation. Men cursed like sailors and cried like babies. Over and over we heard from them the apologies; that they would have given their family jewels to have been here to stop the carnage. Some of the Davis crew ran their hands over the holes in the ship’s surface, shaking their heads in disgust and outrage.”
–Chapter 6, Eighteen Hours of Hell
To call it an important book may be the greatest understatement of the century, as Phil Tourney’s story literally carries the keys to understanding why America finds itself paralyzed by one tiny nation thousands of miles away.
The electronic media version of “What I Saw That Day…Israel’s 1967 Holocaust of American Servicemen Aboard The USS Liberty And Its Aftermath” by USS Liberty Survivor Phil Tourney can be purchased online for $10.00 by going to http://thelibertyhour.podbean.com and clicking on the donations icon towards the right side of the homepage. The hardcopy version, soon to be made available and the audio version can be had together for $25.00. Those purchasing the electronic media version can use their purchase as credit towards the whole package once available.
Those wanting to order the electronic version but don’t want to use online payment methods can send a check to
Liberty Publications
Box 27
Careywood, Idaho 83809
