-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4361750&BRD=1889&PAG=461&dept_
id=122116&rfi=6
}}}>Begin
'No one ever apologized'
Beth Emley/Messenger Post Staff
June 06, 2002
Veteran John Hrankowski, pictured here walking around the pool at his Greece
home, won't give up on the fight to bring out the true account of the attack on the
American intelligence ship, the USS Liberty. (STAFF PHOTO/ANMARI LINARDI)
A Greece man strives to tell
the whole story of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty - 35 years later.
John Hrankowski will be miles away from Arlington National Cemetery this weekend,
but he will be close in spirit as fellow crewmates from the USS Liberty gather to
remember the 35th anniversary of an Israeli attack on an American intelligence ship.
The Greece man said his health is preventing him from attending the "No Greater
Love Remembrance Ceremony" Saturday in Washington, D.C., where crewmates
will pause to remember the 34 who died and 172 wounded during the June 8, 1967
air and sea attack. The attack occurred during the Six Day War between Israel and
the Arab states.
"It's got to be rectified because we didn't get killed. We're still here," said
Hrankowski, who was 19 at the time of the attack and earned a Purple Heart for
wounds he suffered.
The attack is controversial because Israel claimed it mistook the USS Liberty for an
out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El Quseir and that the U.S. was operating in a
war zone without displaying a flag.
Hrankowski and other Americans dispute that account. They say the ship was in
international waters, away from fighting, and that the American flag was flying.
Ever since the USS Liberty Veterans Association formed 20 years ago, Hrankowski -
the only known USS Liberty survivor in Monroe County and one of only a few in the
state - has been an outspoken advocate, talking to groups all over the country to tell
the full story.
"Our government said Israel apologized and paid, but the Israelis have not answered
and no one ever apologized," Hrankowski said.
According to information on the USS Liberty website, Lyndon Johnson in his
memoirs called the attack "a tragic accident." Robert McNamara, his secretary of
defense, stated "I didn't believe [the attack] was intended at the time, and I don't
believe it now."
But Dean Rusk, Johnson's secretary of state, differed, saying: "I was never satisfied
with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink Liberty
precluded an assault by accident or some trigger-happy local commander. I didn't
believe it then, and I don't believe it to this day. The attack was outrageous."
Hrankowski, 55, still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder because of wounds
he suffered from being hit by metal pieces from explosives during the attack.
A former deputy sheriff with the Monroe County Court system, he left work because
of his health 10 years ago. Over the past 10 years, he's endured colon surgery and a
heart attack - in addition to the ongoing mental trauma.
"There's not a night I've slept a full night," said Hrankowski.
Hrankowski was 21 when he was discharged from the Navy in November of 1969
and returned to Rochester with his wife, Mary Ann, whom he married a few months
before getting out of the service.
Hrankowski said for years, there wasn't much publicity about the attack until the early
1980s, when the Veterans Association formed.
During that time period, survivor Jim Ennes, an officer who witnessed the attack,
wrote "Assault on the Liberty," which tells the story.
Since then, another book, "Body of Secrets," was written by another survivor, James
Bamford, and a History Channel special called "Cover-up Attack on the USS Liberty,"
was aired four times this year.
A European film about the USS Liberty is about to be released, along with a book
written by a Pulitzer-prize winning author, Hrankowski said.
Hrankowski and other veterans traveled to Washington earlier this year to talk to
U.S. congressmen about the incident. He said there could be hearings in the future,
but nothing is definite yet.
Because of the anniversary of the attack, Hrankowski said he's been deluged with
requests for interviews from the local and national media, including MSNBC and
CNN.
Hrankowski said publicity helps the cause, but what veterans want is full disclosure
to Congress.
"All we want is to have everything released," he said. "We're just asking them to give
us a shot like every other incident and have it documented for history and let us be
on our way."
For more information on the USS Liberty attack, go to the website at
www.ussliberty.org. The website was created by Jim Ennes and Joe Meadors, two
survivors of the attack.
©Greece Post 2002
End<{{{
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