On January 23, 1968, the U.S. navy ship Pueblo was seized during an intelligence mission off the coast of North Korea.
Eighty-two crew members were captured when North Korean planes and ships attacked the USS Pueblo. (One member of the crew was killed during the ambush.)
They were held prisoner for 11 months.
The Arizona Republic, January 24, 1968
“In January 1968, Massie and 82 others, including Capt. Lloyd ‘Pete’ Bucher, steamed into the Sea of Japan on the Pueblo’s first mission: to gather electronic intelligence while stationed off the coast of the Soviet Union and North Korea. The ship was lightly armed with two large machine guns. The United States, at the time, was deep into the Cold War and fighting in Vietnam. It hadn’t been at war with North Korea in 15 years.
….Suddenly, North Korean gunboats appeared and began to circle the U.S. ship. North Korean jets streaked through the sky. Soon, the gunboats started shooting. As Massie and other crew members began setting fire to piles of classified documents, a shell exploded in a passageway. Massie’s ears clanged. His dungarees were coated with blood and flesh from crewmate Duane Hodges, who died from his injuries.
Outgunned and outmaneuvered, Bucher surrendered.
….The harsh conditions and fear eventually wore down the men. Bucher and the sailors admitted to spying in North Korean waters. They penned confessions. They even posed for propaganda photographs, though they tried to insert subtle and not-so-subtle messages for those back home.
….On Dec. 23, 11 months into captivity, the North Koreans released the Pueblo sailors.
— “USS Pueblo’s William Massie Seeks Retribution From N. Korea”
Washington Post, October 8, 2009
Here is a January 25, 1968 report from ABC News:
Two decades after the USS Pueblo incident, the NBC Today show interviewed the ship’s captain, Lloyd Bucher.
(Actor Hal Holbrook portrayed Bucher in a 1973 TV movie about the USS Pueblo. Three years later Holbrook said the words, “just…follow the money” in a journalism film you might remember.)
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