Joe Lentini

USS Liberty Survivor

Host: Basima Farhat

Previously Aired On: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 – Listen to the Show!
 

June 8th, 1967 was a clear, sunny day with unlimited visibility. It was such a nice day that as the U.S.S. Liberty floated in international waters 14 miles north of the Sinai Peninsula, sailors were sunbathing on the spy ship’s deck.

But all wasn’t as tranquil as the sunny day would convey, for June 8th also marked the 4th day of the 6-Day War, which involved Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Monitoring this situation was the U.S.S. Liberty, a World War II freighter that had been converted into a spy vessel by the NSA – the National Security Agency. In fact, the Liberty was the most sophisticated and identifiable intelligence ship in the world at the time with dozens of large antennae, state of the art electronic intercept equipment, moon bounce satellite dishes, massive aerials, plus a TRSSCOM system that sent real-time messages to the Pentagon. The Liberty also flew a large 5×8 foot American flag, was freshly painted with large white numbers and letters on its bow and hull, and contained no offensive weaponry except for four 50 caliber machine guns for defensive purposes.

These details are important to keep in mind, because at 8:00 am, as the Liberty floated in international waters at less than 5 knots – with a 5×8 foot American flag furling in the wind – a squadron of Israeli jets circled the ship at least a dozen times. These reconnaissance planes flew at such low levels – as close as 200 feet – that the sailors aboard the Liberty actually waved to the Israeli pilots. These Israeli jets not only I.D.’d this ship as being of American origin, they also positively I.D.’d it as being the U.S.S. Liberty.

Then inexplicably, unmarked Israeli aircraft, began to attack the Liberty. The attacked continued for 2 hours by Israeli Mirage fighter bombers, Dassault Mystyre III jets, and torpedo boats. The Israelis used missiles, rockets and napalm to slaughter 34 of the Liberty crew members, wounding 173 others. Even men and lifeboats in the water were targetted as the crew of the USS Liberty was forced to abandon ship.

Guest Joseph Lentini was a Senior Petty Officer of Communications on board the USS Liberty that fateful day:

“Even the IDF officers on duty that day in 1967 now say they had identified the U.S.S. Liberty prior to the attack.

They have said this publicly on U.S. National TV and have also indicated that, contrary to the original official Israeli statement that the ship flew no flag, they thought we were “flying false colors.” It may take some time, but eventually the truth is exposed. In recent times it has been the Israeli government itself that has verified what we survivors have said all along!

To all those folks who were not there that day, who have not carefully studied the facts as they are recorded by both sides, I suggest that if they doubt the attack was planned and carried out deliberately, they should research U.S. Naval records, official pictures, and information available from the State of Israel. This is not, nor has it ever been, a religious issue. The issues revolve around the politics of an ally who, when it was perceived to be in its best interest, attacked and killed U.S. Navy men. They revolve around the politics of the U.S. which kept a President from allowing a military response to come to our aid/comfort/protection. Finally, they revolve around the U.S. politics which kept our President then from presenting the Medal of Honor to our Captain and a more recent George Bush from even meeting with survivors while we were visiting the White House.

Notice please that there is nothing anti-religion in any of those statements. Liberty survivors were wronged by Israelis whose religion happens to be Jewish and U.S. politicians who were guided by monetary political issues. Nothing more – nothing less.

I was there! It was no accident! I can only hope and pray that what happened to me and my shipmates never has to happen again, especially not at the hands of an “ally!”

Joseph C. Lentini was a career Public Servant and is retired from the Federal Government after 29 ½ years of service. He was a staff member within the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of the Administrator. He served as both a Communications Specialist and a Computer Specialist for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) prior to joining the EPA. Joe received agency and peer-level recognition every year of his Federal employment. This included cash awards; organizational and peer certificates of appreciation; and five of EPA’s highest level awards – an EPA Silver medal for Superior Service and four EPA Bronze medals for Commendable Service.

Joe entered Public Service prior to his 18th birthday when he joined the U.S Navy, where he served with honor for eight years. During this time he distinguished himself as an honor graduate of the Communications Technician (CT) School at Pensacola, Florida where he trained as a Communications and Cryptographic Specialist. He was promoted through the rank of Petty Officer First Class (E-6), and later returned to the same CT School as a senior instructor. During this duty he received base-wide recognition as an outstanding leader and instructor. He was retired from the Navy after eight years of active military service for medical reasons and received a permanent 30% disability for wounds inflicted by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) during their deliberate attack of the intelligence ship USS Liberty June 08, 1967.

Joe was honored by the Navy and the National Security Agency (NSA) for training efforts related to accurately documenting this attack and for his efforts to help establish a Cryptologic Military History Program. They publicly presented him with an honorary promotion to the rank of Chief

Petty Officer (E-7). He considers this to be one of the highest honors the Navy can bestow and counts it a major achievement.

September 1st, 2008 --Previous Guests--, Joe Lentini | 2 comments