THE PUEBLO INCIDENT

USS Pueblo (AGER-2), a Banner-class technical research ship (US Navy Intelligence), was boarded and captured by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 23 January 1968. The Pueblo Incident became one of the major incidents of what is now considered the "Second Korean War".

North Korea stated that she strayed into their territorial waters, but the United States maintains that the vessel was in international waters at the time of the incident.

Pueblo, still held by the DPRK today, officially remains a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy.[1] It is currently located in Pyongyang, where it is used as a museum ship. It is the only ship of the U.S. Navy currently being held captive.


THE TAKE DOWN

On 5 January 1968, Pueblo left Sasebo, Japan on January 11, 1968 headed northward through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan with specific orders to intercept and conduct surveillance of Soviet naval activity in the Tsushima Strait and to gather signal and electronic intelligence from North Korea.

On 21 January a modified Soviet style sub chaser, SO-I class, passed within two miles (4 km) of the Pueblo.

The next day two DPRK fishing trawlers (Lenta Class) passed within 25 yards (23 m) of Pueblo. That day, a North Korean unit made an assassination attempt against South Korean leadership targets, but the crew of Pueblo were not informed.

According to the American account, the following day, 23 January, Pueblo was approached by a sub chaser and her nationality was challenged; Pueblo responded by raising the U.S. flag. The DPRK vessel then ordered her to stand down or be fired upon. Pueblo attempted to maneuver away, but was considerably slower than the sub chaser. Additionally, three torpedo boats appeared on the horizon and then joined in the chase and subsequent attack. The attackers were soon joined by two MiG-21 fighters. A fourth torpedo boat and a second sub chaser appeared on the horizon a short time later. The ammunition on Pueblo was stored below decks, and her machine guns were wrapped in cold-weather tarpaulins. The machine guns were unmanned, and no attempt was made to man them.

U.S. Naval authorities and the crew of the Pueblo insist that before the capture, Pueblo was miles outside North Korean territorial waters; the North Koreans claim the vessel was well within the DPRK's territory. The mission statement allowed her to approach within a nautical mile (1.852 km) of that limit. The DPRK, however, claims a 50-nautical-mile (90 km) sea boundary even though international standards were 12 nautical miles (22 km) at the time.

The North Korean vessels attempted to board Pueblo, but she maneuvered to prevent this for over two hours and a sub chaser opened fire with a 57 mm cannon, killing one member of the crew. The smaller vessels fired machine guns into Pueblo, which then signaled compliance and began destroying sensitive material. The volume of material on board was so great that it was impossible to destroy all of it. The crew inside the security space on board the Pueblo had over an hour to destroy sensitive material before the ship was boarded.


"NO ONE CAME AT ALL"



Commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher in 1967


Radio contact between the Pueblo and the Naval Security Group in Kamiseya, Japan had been ongoing during the incident. As a result, Seventh Fleet command was fully aware of Pueblo's situation.

Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, Commanding Officer of the Pueblo, bitterly recalled that commanders had failed to come to his aid.

"The U.S. at that time had enormous military forces in the western Pacific within five minutes flying time of us," Bucher told The Associated Press in 1988. "I would have thought something could be mustered to come to our aid. But everybody just forgot we were there."

"The U.S. at that time had enormous military forces in the western Pacific within five minutes flying time of us," Bucher told The Associated Press in 1988. "I would have thought something could be mustered to come to our aid. But everybody just forgot we were there."

More likely, no one wanted to take responsibility for an attack on North Korean vessels attacking Pueblo. By the time President Lyndon Johnson was awakened, Pueblo had been captured and any rescue attempt would have been futile.

Pueblo followed the North Korean vessels as ordered, but then stopped immediately outside North Korean waters. She was again fired upon, and a U.S. sailor, Fireman Apprentice Duane Hodges, was killed. The ship was boarded by men from a torpedo boat and a sub chaser. Crew members had their hands tied, were blindfolded, beaten, and prodded with bayonets.


CAPTIVITY, ABUSE, AND RESISTANCE

The Pueblo was taken into port at Wonsan and the crew was moved twice to POW camps, with some of the crew reporting upon release that they were starved and regularly tortured while in North Korean custody. This treatment was allegedly worsened when the North Koreans realized that crewmen were secretly giving them "the finger" in staged propaganda photos.

The conduct of Commander Bucher and the crew of the Pueblo while in captivity is held to this day as the epitome of prisoner-of-war resistance, amongst military survival schools and college psychology courses alike.

Bucher was brutally tortured and put through mock executions in an effort to make him confess. Eventually the Koreans threatened to execute his men in front of him, and Bucher relented. None of the Koreans knew English well enough to write the confession, so they had Bucher write it himself. They verified the meaning of his words, but failed to catch the pun when he said "We paean the DPRK. We paean the Korean people. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung". (The word "paean" sounds identical to the term 'pee on'.)

Bucher's 'Final Confession' is a classic of disinformation and doublespeak; a masterpiece of the Cold War, it deserves close inspection.


REPATRIATION


Crew of USS Pueblo upon release on 23 DEC 1968.


Following an apology and written admission by the U.S. that Pueblo had been spying, and an assurance that the U.S. would not spy in the future, the North Koreans released the 82 remaining crew members. On 23 December 1968 the crew was taken by buses to the DMZ border with South Korea and ordered to walk south one at a time, fifteen seconds apart. Exactly 11 months after being taken prisoner, Pete Bucher led his crew across the "Bridge of No Return" to freedom. The U.S. then verbally retracted the ransom admission, apology, and assurance. Meanwhile the North Koreans blanked out the paragraph above the signature which read: "and this hereby receipts for 82 crewmen and one dead body".


A gaunt Pete Blucher receives the Purple Heart medal after shortly after repatriation in December of 1968.


Bucher's surrender of his small ship, loaded with intelligence information, was harshly criticized by a Navy Court of Inquiry convened in Coronado. The court recommended Bucher face a general court-martial for allegedly failing to defend the Pueblo, allowing the ship to be searched and other offenses.

Navy Secretary John H. Chafee turned down the court-martial, saying crew members "have suffered enough."


THE LEGEND OF THE USS PUEBLO

A literal blip on the radar screen, the Pueblo Incident represents a significant event of the Cold War - such was the power of symbols during the fifty year struggle between Communism and the Free World. The Saga of the USS Pueblo was immortalized in song; 'Ride, Captain Ride' is played to this day on radio stations across the USA, yet few Americans realize the true meaning of the popular 70's song by Blues Image: