A few days ago, I happened to tune into Colonel Oliver North's television show, "War Stories" on the FOX news network. This particular episode brought back many memories and thoughts concerning the "Pueblo Incident" as I was stationed at Naval Station Adak, Alaska at the time of the incident. Having a close friend that worked at the Naval Security Station, he kept me informed as they were monitoring the radio traffic during the incident.
The U.S.S. Pueblo was a converted from light cargo craft for the sole purpose of acting as a surveillance ship to gather of security information pertaining to national security. Her mission was similar to the mission of the Soviet Union trawler ships that would shadowed the U.S. Naval fleet, disguised as fishing trawlers. The U.S.S. Pueblo was clearly identified as a ship of the U.S. Navy. The Pueblo was tasked with conducting a mission of the coast of North Korea, the United States has never denied that this was a surveillance mission to locate radar sites on the coast of North Korea as well as monitoring the Soviet Union fleet in the area of the Korean Sea and Sea of Japan.
On the morning of January 5, 1968 the U.S.S. Pueblo put to sea from Yokosuka, Japan in transit to Sasebo, Japan. On January 11, 1968 she departed Sasebo and headed northward through the Tsuhima Straits into the Sea of Japan to perform her mission. The crew on the U.S.S. Pueblo consisted of eighty three men with Commander Lloyd Bucher as Commanding Officer. The predominant armament of the Pueblo was two deck mounted machine guns.
On January 23, 1968 a North Korean Subchaser moved to within 500 yards of the Pueblo and signaled the following message, "Heave To Or I Will Fire" . After rechecking that the distance from the nearest land which was 15.8 miles the Pueblo replied "I Am In International Waters". The Pueblo then began movement to the sea when the North Korean Subchaser was joined by three torpedo boats and two North Korean MiG's doing low flyovers. A fourth torpedo boat a second subchaser were sited heading towards the Pueblo. The crew onboard the Pueblo, commenced sending out messages pertaining to the situation and asking for assistance. A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and battle group were located just two hundred miles from the area and were never notified by the command structure to render assistance. The Pueblo continued her course away from the area when the North Korean war ships commenced firing on her. Commander Bucher realizing that he was outgunned ordered his crew to destroy all intelligence gear and documentation. During the firing on the Pueblo, one crew member was mortally wounded, the only casualty of the incident. Realizing that he was surrounded by superior armed and faster war vessels, the Captain made the hardest decision that any military commander could make to protect his men and vessel, he chose to heave to and follow the orders of this pursuers. This was the first seizure of a U.S. Naval ship on the high seas in 15o years.
The Pueblo was escorted back to a harbor in North Korea, however, the crew did not have the time to destroy all of the electronic and sensitive gear onboard the vessel. For the next eleven months, the crew of the Pueblo spent their time in prison being interrogated and beaten on a daily basis, often only one meal a day consisting of a cabbage soup.
On December 23, 1968, eleven months to the the day, the remaining crew of 82 men of the Pueblo walked over the "Bridge of No Return" at Panmumjon. Even during their release, the men had to walk in single file, one man every 15 seconds across the bridge to freedom. On December 24th, the men of the Pueblo honored Duane Hodges in a memorial service prior to leaving South Korea enroute to the United States.
During this incident, unknown for several more years a "mole" was inside the the Department of the Navy. The spy was on active duty with the Navy and had access to the majority of our classified information. Petty Officer Walker was this spy and it took fourteen years for him to be identified. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it was determined that they perhaps were behind the capture of the Pueblo since there was one "top secret" de-coding machine onboard the Pueblo which was not destroyed in time by the crew. With this de-coder and the information passed to them by Walker, the Soviets had complete access to all of our classified information. Petty Officer Walker continues to pass his time in jail.
As for the U.S.S. Pueblo, she still sits in a harbor in North Korea and is a very popular tourist site for visiting North Koreans to the area. The shell holes in her hull and superstructure are circled with white paint to show the visitors how their naval vessels were able to attack and seize the Pueblo. On what was once her "mess decks" a constant playing video display shows the capture of the vessel and "interviews" conducted with the crew members. The U.S.S. Pueblo remains on the list of active naval vessels in the U.S. Navy even tho she was captured thirty nine years ago. Will the Pueblo ever return to the United States? At the recent North Korean talks pertaining to curtailment of the construction of nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Rice made a point at bringing up the illegal seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo and asked for it to be returned to the United States. Commander Bucher is still alive, perhaps some day he will see his ship returned to the United States.