By Michael Collins Piper

.There have been a number of books on the tragedy of the murderous, premeditated Israeli attempt to destroy the USS Liberty and kill all of those aboard. However, by far, the singular volume that stands out as the one that drives home most clearly the events of that horrible day—June 8, 1967— and all of the sorrow and pain that came in its wake, even in the decades that followed, is the remarkable new book, simply and, in some respects, profoundly, titled What I Saw That Day: Israel’s June 8th, 1967 Holocaust Against U.S. Servicemen and Its Aftermath. The author is Liberty survivor Phil Tourney who, with his coauthor, former AFP correspondent Mark Glenn, has produced a heartfelt and gripping account of his own experience and those of his shipmates—those who lived and those who died. And also the aftermath.
You are warned: This book will make you angry and it will make you cry. But most of all, it will make you proud that there are real American heroes like Phil Tourney and the men of the Liberty who endured so much and yet who remain proud patriots, despite the utter filthy betrayal they suffered at the hands of “their” government, whose laws and liberties they swore to defend — and did.
A three-term president of the LIBERTY VETERANS ASSOCIATION, Tourney received the Bronze Star with Combat V for Valor, the Purple Heart, the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Star, the National Defense ServiceMedal and the CombatAction Ribbon. But despite those “official” honors, Tourney’s greatest honor has been that which he’s achieved by being such a courageous and forthright voice of truth on behalf of his friends and shipmates who died that day and those who survived. And Phil’s record of service, both in the military and in the years that followed — particularly in the years that he began speaking out about the Liberty — proves that Phil has truly lived up to his all- American heritage.
Phil’s 285-page work is a straight-forward, no-holds-barred remembrance of things past and present surrounding the Liberty affair and of the intrigues that have followed. As the record shows, 34 Americans died that day and another 172 were wounded (Tourney among them), many dying later of complications from their injuries that lingered in some cases for years.
But as disturbing as the actual Israeli brutality itself was the traitorous behavior toward the men of the Liberty by President Lyndon Johnson, other high-ranking U.S. government officials and even by members of the U.S. Navy elite who helped cover up the circumstances of this malicious act in order to protect the interests of Israel, above and beyond the interests of the brave Americans who fought off the Israeli assault that sunny summer day in the Mediterranean as Israeli missiles, torpedoes, machine-gun fire and dousings of napalm pounded into the Liberty and her men.
Any person of any nationality or religious persuasion who can read this book and not be moved — either. maddened or saddened or just simply appalled or a combination of all of that and much more — can only be described as insensate. And unfortunately, there are many Americans (many self-styled “Christians” among
them) who have actually denounced and condemned Tourney and the other Liberty survivors in the most vile terms for daring to speak out and to speak the truth about what Israel did.
The book is broadly political and historic in its scope, but among the most powerful memories in its pages are those of a highly personal nature, wherein Tourney recounts the problems in his family life stemming directly from the emotional turmoil he suffered as a consequence — not just of the memories of the attack itself — common enough, to be sure, for many combat veterans — but more so because of the threats and pressure put upon the survivors of the Liberty by certain high-ranking superior officers — namely, for one, Admiral Isaac Kidd — who assured the men that if they ever spoke about what happened that day they would suffer court-martial and imprisonment, “or worse.” And if you suspect that the term “worse” was a possible death threat from the admiral to the survivors, that is precisely what he meant. Make no mistake about it. Once you read of what the Liberty’s survivors were subjected to by their Navy superiors you’ll understand that clearly.
Some readers may be taken aback by some harsh comments Tourney has for a number of otherwise good folks who, in one way or another, dealt bad hands to Tourney and his coauthor Mark Glenn over the course of their recent work in attempting to publicize the Liberty affair and the misdeeds of Israel. But neither Tourney nor Glenn has ever been a shrinking violet, and they remain steadfast in their efforts to get out the truth, despite occasional frustrations.
As I have said privately and publicly on more than one occasion, Phil Tourney is a good and decent man, an articulate, dignified voice for the real America. In fact, it can accurately be said — with absolutely no exaggeration — that he is a statesman in the truest sense of that so over-used term. One could only hope that Phil and people like him will one day be running this country and redirecting our policies.
Read What I Saw That Day. Reflect on it. Then do what you can to make sure as many people as possible also read the book and get Phil’s message out to as manyAmericans as possible.The Liberty is not about to go away, as the Israelis and others might hope. And when enough people know what happened and what Phil Tourney saw that day, American politics could very well be turned upside down.

. . ..Michael Collins Piper can now be heard on the Internet at michaelcollinspiper.podbean.com. He is the author of Final Judgment, the controversial “underground bestseller” documenting the collaboration of Israeli intelligence in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He is also the author of The High Priests of War, The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America , The Judas Goats: The Enemy Within, Dirty Secrets: Crime, Conspiracy & Cover-Up in the 20th Century, The GOLEM: Israel's Hell Bomb, and Target: Traficant. These works can be found at America First Books and FIRST AMENDMENT BOOKS: 1-888-699-NEWS. He has lectured on suppressed topics in places as diverse as Malaysia, Japan, Canada, Russia and Abu Dhabi.

 

(Issue #23, June 6, 2011,
AMERICAN FREE PRESS)