Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2003 20:31:52 +0000

Your oral histories to be put in print, never to be forgotten. If you are a veteran or know of a veteran with an interesting story of their time in service, please respond to this email and we will be happy to send you some more information about this exciting project!! This email is not intended to be SPAM, nor will your email address be put in any SPAM list. This is a legitimate project thats purpose is to share interesting and beautiful stories of veterans with everyone around the world. The publisher is a veteran of the Battle Of The Bulge, 87th Division, 345th Regiment.

Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 00:36:25 -0700 Dear Gentlemen:

I came about the USS Pueblo website after seeing a report on CNN. I appreciate your associations’ care and dedication to keeping the memory of the USS Pueblo alive. My father, Robert Joseph Hanneken, CPT USAF, died while flinging an operation associated with air reconnaissance of the USS Pueblo. I am writing in the hopes of gaining additional information, as there maybe someone on your staff having knowledge about US Air Forces missions at the time of this event. Again, I thank you for your efforts in providing information to the public and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely, Michael Robert Hanneken Richmond, CA

Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 16:35:48 -0500

I am interested in learning about the US Navy response after the capture of the Pueblo. Didn't we send a US Navy ship over to Korean waters after the Pueblo Capture? I am trying to find out which ship that was.

Ron B of Omaha

Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 06:22:24 -0700

I have been a friend of one of your crew for about 25 years. We worked together and I came to know this man fairly well. Having just spent about 4 months with him again after about 18 years, I can say that I am sure glad that people like him and the Pueblo crew in the world. Rich Arnold is one hell of a guy.

Wish I knew the rest of you. David W. Diffenderfer

Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 23:18:04 -0700 (PDT)

I saw the tv movie the pueblo starring Hal Holbrook many years ago. I have been trying to find a copy of it for quite awhile. Was wondering if you might know where i could locate a copy of it. Would love to see it again. Sure would like for it to be aired again on tv. Do you remember which network it was on. Maybe if I contacted them , they could help. I would appreciate any help you could give me.

Thank you Karen Kelly

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:35:06 -0500

Really strange, I had'nt thought about it in years, but in 1968 I was a young airman working in the Air Defence Control Center at Itazuke AB Japan and received the (I beleive) initial capture message from the Pueblo via teletype. I can't remember how long it took to scramble aircraft and my memory is a little fuzzy, but I wish you guys all the luck in the future.

Don Harrison, MSgt, USAF, Ret.

Date: October 2003

Gentlemen,

I am writing to you from BBC television in London. We are currently working on a major programme on north korea and will be featuring the Pueblo incident at some length. We will be in the US from between the in late October until early November and would very much like to interview Commanding Officer Bucher. I realise this is very late notice but if you could let me know whether this is feasible, I would greatly appreciate it. Naturally, we will happily travel to a location conveniant to Mr Bucher. If you are also planning a reunion this year, please let me know.

Many thanks and best wishes Tom Watson BBC news and current affairs

Fri, 14 Nov 2003 15:21:59 EST

I recall when the USS PUEBLO was captured. I was aboard the USS YORKTOWN CVS10 on our way to the Gulf of Tonkin and were diverted to the sea of Japan in an effort which we thought was to bring our people home. Our CO was Capt Bennett and his message was we were going with task force to get our ship and people back. I recall how cold it was in the Sea of Japan and the ice that had to be scraped and chipped. Obviously, our country chose to use diplomatic resources to get our people and eventually we headed back to ward Vietnam. As a crewmember, we talked and were concerned that the north Koreans would certainly not back down without a fight, and today they still present that image. I want the Officers and Crew of the Pueblo to know that we were deadly serious about our intent of bringing them back and not leaving them to an unknown fate in N. Korea. Today, several of us who served together still recall the incident and our motivation as we sailed to take our brothers back.

God Bless the Marine Corps and the United States Navy. Wayne Masoka

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 17:46:14 -0600

Attn Carl Schumacher

My name is Ed Koppel and I am fairly sure we graduated from OCS Newport at the same time. I had a supply corps designation. After a tour in-country Vietnam I was assigned to the USS Procyon AF-61 (reefer ship) as the cargo officer. We were loading out in Oakland CA. For replenishing the carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the middle of the loading, which went on for weeks, the Pueblo was taken and rumors started flying that we’d be diverted to Korean waters. During this period my parents (I'm originally from St. Louis and my brother still lives there) sent an article from the Post Dispatch about the Pueblo and the fact that you were also from St. Louis. I remembered that I had met you when, I believe, we both worked on the 'year book' for our OCS class. We did not go to Korean waters but completed the original deployment to Vietnam and at the end, my time was up. I took off for Europe for an extended 'just bumming' but on the way to the east coast I stopped at the Naval Academy where another officer from my ship had been assigned to teach English. I can remember this officer commenting of the profoundly negative effect that the giving-up-the-ship by the captain was having at the academy. And that the commandant had laid the blame on the character or caliber of the commanding officer of the Pueblo and (I think I remember this correctly) To keep in mind that he had formerly been an enlisted man. All I could think was that not giving up would have cost every life on the ship. I was glad that my navy time was completed. I stumbled on your web site quite by accident and had not thought of all this for over thirty years. I now live in Evanston, IL.

Good work on what you have accomplished.

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 10:17:50 -0500

My name is Paula Fogarty. I work for a PA State Senator who has a number of Korean-American constituents and thus has become interested in issues relating to Korean-American relations. He wants to become involved in any effort to get the USS Pueblo returned to the United States and any effort to set the record straight and honor the crew and captain. Please advise how he can become involved and who he might contact.

Thanks very much. Paula

Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 17:01:09 -0500

Dear Sir,

Can you inform me as to the Commission Status of the USS Pueblo? I am afraid that the US Navy's website is not informative on the matter.

Thank you, Paul W. Brotcke

Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 22:01:29 EST

To whom it may concern:

I am a retired navy chaplain. I met PUEBLO crew at DMZ after their release, held worship services on the day of release and a joint service with Catholic chaplain on Christmas Eve, accompanied crew to San Diego. Would be interested in knowing of any meetings of PUEBLO veterans and possibly attending.

Chaplain Marvin Snyder

Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 16:37:38 EST

Greetings,

I am pleased to be reading so much of the attack on the Pueblo, and discovered no information on the Air Force response to the "incident." I am writing a book called "Sink the Pueblo," and it is a first person account of the response of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing's response to the attack and capture of the USS Pueblo. Within the hour of that attack I was notified, by the 18th wing CC, that I was to launch all the available F-105 Fighters from Kadena, Okinawa to Osan,Korea. We were not prepared to do battle as we were in a training mode at that time. I had to scramble two "Thuds" at a time, when they were fueled and manned. We managed to get two airborne per hour until a total of twelve were launched by sundown. The rest of the night we combat loaded 16-500# armor piercing bombs and the next morning were ready with orders to sink the Pueblo. The orders would be sent from 5th AF to launch. We sat alert for three frozen days and the order never arrived. After that we were placed in a modified ready status for one solid year until you all were released. I then returned to Okinawa, and two weeks later was sent to Takhli, Thailand to fly 140 combat missions. I do a bunch of lectures about the Korean air war, I flew 100 missions in the F-84, the Vietnam war, 140 missions in the F-105, and my response to the Pueblo incident. I have been working on my book for two years, as absolutely no one knows what we Thud jocks were prepared to do when ordered. I would love to do some face to face talks with anyone just to let you know that there was someone ready to lose 12 F-105's at that time. Well, get in contact with me if you want to help me get "The Rest of the Story" written. I have talked to your Capt. on the phone once about a year ago.

All the best, and God Bless. Colonel John C. Wright, USAF ret.

Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 15:43:31 -0600

I sent an Email with some venting of my own, about the Pueblo attack and the aftermath. I said I was on duty at JSPC Okinawa during the attack. I was also on duty during the attack by Israel on the Liberty. Actually we may have caused or at least helped Israel succeed in their "accidental attack." For some reason there was no direct communication from/to any field support unit with the liberty, just before the attack started, (it may have been for some hours, I don't remember exactly and it was never explained to us why this was, you know, chain of command and all.) Somehow the know-it-alls at NSA decided since we had a sporadic capability to communicate with units in the Med., through an air force Security squadron in Peshawar and through a foreign national station in Australia, that we could somehow communicate directly with the Liberty - so in their not so infinite wisdom they then passed us all of the ships traffic. It was all Flash and follow up traffic. We had no where to send it except through a foreign national communication center - which we all would have been put in jail if we had sent it. So all the traffic sat in our relay station or was passed from one U.S. Station to the next. That is until we found out that it had already been attacked. Then we sent it all back to NSA at Meade. We, of course, got royally chewed out. The people that made the decision to send us all the traffic told us that if we screwed up again, they would close our shop (not the whole station), and send us all to Vietnam - combat infantry. That was another of the three times I was really scared while in the Army Security Agency. I thought that the U.S. was gonna nuke someone, using the attack as an excuse. Some of the military politicians thought seriously about doing Israel and Egypt in. Israel had warned the U.S. not to spy on them or any of their military activities, and, that there could be grave consequences if they did. Johnson still made his stupid speech even though he knew - or at least his staff/advisors knew. The last time I was really scared while on active duty was while stationed at Sinop Turkey. Since you have had the experience of being over flown by Migs and knowing I was on duty during two of the worst incidents in the existence of the NSA at that time. I thought, I guess its my turn this time. A Russian Mig going supersonic at less than 500 feet right over your head (actually it was two of them - low enough to see they were fully armed), really scared me and some of my buddies that had been at Sobe when the other two incidents happened. We had just started out of our barracks to head to work, and we were looking for something bombproof to hide in. Especially when the four U.S. and Turkish phantoms intercepted them within our sight, a mile or two of the base (no shoot down, just chase and tag your it.) This happened three or four times during my tour there. Often just before or after the Russians started another weapons test, or were going to make another threat to one of the Communist Block dictators. You know, the phantoms never got there before the Migs completed their fly over. The Russians were just saying - any time we want, your dead; any time you don't respond we may just do it. Like Israel did and say oops! Just an accident. More venting, guess I'm not over those years as much as I would like to be.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE AND ARE DOING.

May The Blessings Be

Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 16:03:03 -0500

I am the military reporter for the Florida Times-Union and I am doing a story on the 35th Anniversary of the release of the crew of the USS Pueblo. I would like to ask you a few questions and try to contact your former CO, Lloyd Bucher. You can answer my questions via email of if you want we can do it by phone. Below are my questions.

Gregory Piatt Military writer Florida Times-Union Jacksonville, Fl

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:19:18 -0700

Gentlemen, I ran across your web site by accident while going through a lot of old memories on Joe Glockner’s CT NSG web site. I must say that your web site is very impressive and has brought back some old memories along with some old frustrations for me. I am a former CT2 “R” brancher that served aboard the USS Banner (AGER-1) at the time of the capture of the USS Pueblo. I served on the Banner from September 1967 to August of 1968 and was on board when the Pueblo was tied up next to the Banner at Yokosuka in December of 67 and January of 68. I have a hard time now remembering exact dates but I do recall that we were supposed to relieve the Pueblo off of the North Korean coast but we broke down and had to be towed into port for repairs. I believe we were towed into Sasebo for repairs but I won’t swear to it now. Once the repairs were made and we got underway again, we received word that the Pueblo had been boarded by North Korean troops. I think we were about 12 to 18 hours away from relieving the Pueblo when we received the word. We were ordered to scrub the mission and await further orders. I recall bouncing around in some rough seas for a few days until a task force was formed. I have a few pictures of the Pueblo Recovery Task Force taken at sea from the Banner, if you would be interested. It’s mainly just a bunch of ships cruising around the Sea of Japan in the middle of a Typhoon. Believe me, all of us on the Banner were very frustrated and pissed when our government chose to do nothing about this incident. Let me know if you are interested at all in the pictures and I will get them to you either via e-mail or on a CD. They are all black & white pictures. I will be posting those, along with several other Banner pictures on Joe Glockner’s web site in the near future. Right now, Joe is working on posting the rest of my Kamiseya, Japan pictures.

Regards, Rick Juergens

Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:36:01 EST

Hi,

A few of us old cruiser salts are having trouble remembering our role and where we were exactly about 36 years ago, we hope you can shead some light on it for us. We know that we had just been to Singapore and became Shellbacks on 1/10/1968 at 105o 15" E. We had been enroute to Australia and New Zealand. Then we were called back to Vietnam PIRAZ station and on the 1/23/1968 called to go right up to the Sea of Japan and establish PIRAZ station on the DMZ. We couldn't send out mail as no stamps, as we came from free mail area and believe we were up there with the largest task force ever, since WW-2. Please, can you direct me or shed something on this so it can be straightened out in our minds?

Thanks, Ray, RD-2 USS Chicago CG-11; 1967 to 1968

Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:53:54 EST

Hi,

I just recieved your email and am shocked. Please go to sites www. Command History of USS Collett DD-730, also just pop up USS Pueblo AGER-2 and you will be surprised. The USS Chicago CG-11 had been turned north with haste from our station off Haipong Harbor. Also the USS Dewey DLG-14 was first on station along with the USS Ranger CV-16, USS Collett DD-730, USS O'BANNON DD-450, USS Entrprise, CVAN -65, USS Nicholas DD-449, amoung about 34 ships I was told. I hope this helps and have put your letter out to joed@afn.org, the owner of USS Chicago web site.

Thanks, Ray