Speech: The Pueblo Incident

Speech: The Pueblo Incident

(EXCERPT) Veterans Memorial Center and Museum San Diego, California
(United States)

Lerner, Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, History

Professor Lerner discussed his book, The Pueblo Incident: A Spy Ship
and the Failure of American Foreign Policy, published by the
University Press of Kansas. The USS Pueblo was an aging cargo ship
refurbished to serve as an intelligence collector. The ship was sent
off unarmed, with an inexperienced captain and crew for a secret
mission in international waters. In January 1968, the Pueblo was
attacked and captured by North Korean gunships before the completion
of its first mission. The crew was imprisoned and tortured for more
than 300 days. President Lyndon Johnson's administration interpreted
the action as an extension of the Cold War rivalry between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union, but Professor Lerner maintains that the Soviets
were not involved in the Pueblo's seizure. He contends that North
Korea acted on its own and for domestic reasons. Drawing on recently
declassified documents from the Johnson administration and interviews
with those involved, Professor Lerner's book addresses what the ship's
mission was, the controversy over Commander Lloyd Bucher's actions,
why the ship had no military support, and how damaging the
intelligence loss was to national security....

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