In the summer of 1967, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Bryce Lockwood, Russian linguist,  boarded the spy ship U.S.S. Liberty in Rota, Spain and was below decks when the ship was hit by an Israeli torpedo that killed 25 - sailors, marines, and a civilian.

In an account that originally aired on two editions of Tell Somebody sandwiched around the 2008 presidential election, Lockwood tells his story of surviving the attack.

Lockwood was awarded the Silver Star for his acts after the torpedo strike.

I'm posting this as a companion to my interview with James Scott about his new book Attack on the Liberty.  James Scott is the son of another Liberty Silver Star holder, John Scott.  You can download an mp3 of that show here:

http://www.tellsomebody.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=509525

On June 8, 1967, fighter jets and torpedo boats attacked a defenseless U.S. spy ship off the coast of Egypt.  After an assault lasting over an hour, 34 U.S. sailors, marines, and civilians were dead, 174 wounded, and the ship was in danger of sinking with a house-sized torpedo hole in its side.  The attackers?  The Israeli Air Force and Navy.

Investigative journalist James M. Scott, son of a Liberty survivor, has written a new book, Attack on the Liberty - the Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship (Simon & Schuster 2009).

From the back cover of the book:

"The specter of the Liberty has haunted the Navy and the intelligence community for decades.  The underlying question the attack raised in 1967 still resonates: how do politics and diplomacy impact battlefield decisions?  In the case of the Liberty, the White House - afraid of offending Israel's domestic backers at a time when it needed support for its Vietnam policy - looked the other way.  Likewise, Congress failed to formally investigate the attack or hold public hearings.  No one was ever punished."

This edition of Tell Somebody features an interview with James M. Scott about his book on the Liberty.

The author's website:

www.jamesmscott.com

Lots of links, survivor stories, pictures, etc., at John Gidusko's site:

http://tinyurl.com/ussliberty/

The show also has an update on the proposals make the old Kansas City WMD plant into a national mercury dump, while a complicated boondoggle to build a replacement plant proceeds.

http://www.nukewatch.org/KCNukePlant/index.html

http://kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com/

Tom Klammer

www.tellsomebody.us

mail@tellsomebody.us

Be sure to scroll down for links to past shows - also scroll through www.tellsomebody.us

We talked a lot on Tell Somebody about bad media coverage generally, and specifically on the subject of healthcare reform:

Tom Klammer: Who Sits at the Health-Reform Table?

Recently on Counterspin on KKFI, we heard about a Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting online petition demanding that TV networks stop their blackout of single payer.  I read more at www.fair.org, and then I contacted FAIR's communications director, Isabel Macdonald, who told us more about the petition, and gave a preview of coming attractions in FAIR's magazine Extra!

And, again, please hold up your hand if you already knew that 85% of the non-nuclear components for the US nuclear weapons arsenal are made right her in Kansas City.  GSA/NNSA/PIEA and a compliant Kansas City, MO city council have worked a tax break deal with private developers to boondoggle- er I mean build - a new WMD plant, and DOE is looking at dumping waste mercury in the old plant. 

Now, even though you could very easily construct the argument that the city council set the table for waste dump proposals, a compliant citizenry is letting the council-critters and Congressman Cleaver win easy points with vacuous statements against violating the neighborhoods of the Kansas City plant. 

Former Kansas City Plant employee Maurice Copeland and PSR/Peaceworks KC rep Ann Suellentrop fill out the second part of the show.  Having trouble with all the alphabet soup?   Right click on the mp3 link, save it, and give a listen.

Tom Klammer

www.tellsomebody.us

mail@tellsomebody.us

Alternative Radio director and founder David Barsamian sits down at his home in Boulder, Colorado to talk with Tell Somebody.

This edition of Tell Somebody has a guest host.

Nilufar Movahedi is the host of two shows on Iranian music, culture and politics on 90.1 FM KKFI - Saba Wind of Love is for English speakers, followed by Sayeh for Persian speakers.  Saba and Sayeh can be heard on 90.1, streaming at www.kkfi.org , on Sundays at 3-5 pm Central.

On this edition of Tell Somebody, Nilufar talks with an Iranian-Canadian who blogs at www.sidewalklyrics.com under the name "Pedestrian."

They talk about the June 12 election in Iran, coverage of election and its aftermath in the Western media, and related issues.