MEDIA ITEMS RELATED TO SEIZURE OF USS PUEBLO BY THE NORTH KOREANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP71B00364R000300150017-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2002
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: March 12, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

WASHINGTON POST 12 March 1969 P3 1 NEW YORK T IMI:S
Approved R Ie 2002/1 0/Ogir?UTA- Pr'PISM3 tT003VM0047-1969 P ?
' that the hoarding attempt was
a survival situation Premier Hint s He Will See
I1N
'
i
?which called for an all-out re- Ban on Atom Bombs on Isle
e
E11
pelling effort.
Richard
It was Rear Adm
.
R. Pratt of the court, however, By TAKASHI OKA
Surrende r. ? O who touched the nerve center c,>P?arto2nPsPhYWk-rm",
of this whole inquiry when he TOYKO, March lI-Premier
asked Bucher why he did not Eisaku Sato indicated in the
tell 'his crew about his decision Diet (Parliament) yesterday ~
to surrender the Pueblo with- andtoday that he c eared an out fir
ing a shot. 'Okinawa free of nuclear wea-
Bucher Asserts
"I prefer to feel," Bucher pans and with American bases
said, "in that I never struck there subject to the same re-
By George C. Wilson my colors, I never did sur? I strictions as those in Japan
Washington Poet Staff writer render the ship. The Koreans proper,
hauled our colors down when This is the first time the
CORONADO, Calif., March had any real effect on the out- we got into port. I don't feel stolid conservative leader hap
11-Cmdr. Lloyd M. Bucher of come of the engagement. that `surrender' is the accu- hinted that he night: take such
a position in the doming united
the ueblo, fighting for his "It was possible the Ko- rate term." States-Japanese negotiations
Navy career and his name in reans would come aboard and As to informing his crew over Okinawa, and his remarks
this final act of the courtroom leave once they realized that about his decision, Sucher created a sensation in the Diet.
we were an American ship said "people In the pilot house The United States at present
drama here, said today, "I and not a South Korean ship were aware of my decision to enjoys exclusive control of the
never struck my colors-1 with South Korean agents allow the Koreans to come Ryukyu Island chain, including
never did surrender the ship," aboard." aboard. The people In the re- Okinawa and its enormous
His words-art of the sum Hope for U.S. Planes search center w e r e also complex of bases. Mr. Sato
aware." has pledged to obtain a def-
mation to the five admirals Also, the skipper said, there In his earlier testimony be- unite date for the reversion of
on the Naval Court of Inquiry, was the possibility-and the fore the court, Bucher himself the islands to Japanese control
and to the country looking on' hope-that American planes used the term surrender. when he goes to Washington t
--were part of the denoun would show up any minute in "We continued to destroy for talks with President Nixon
meat of this phase of the answer to the Pueblo's call for classified material," Bucher in November.
Pueblo affair. help. In that event, Bucher Mr. Sago made his comments
said In that previous testi- on Okinawa before the budget
A few weeks from now, the said, he intended
to oveeorpower order the his mony, "and I decided at that courimittce of the upper house,
court will' decide whether he crew to try to o time that if the destruction of wh?ch annually takes a t?en-
should be court-martialed for 10 armed Koreans who had classified material was pro- seal palls neesrions he1'ere or ' rate up the ship ce ex come aboard. grossing successfully, and de- examining the budget in detail
crated for his unprecedented ted The only boarding his com pending upon what their next Some observers look on the
p as light et he tried to sail a spy, cipat e b had led him sail, nu- action would be, I would sur- dualified manner in which the
ship between war and peace. ipae before he set sa , render the ship. I felt that any Premier presented his remarks I
Today was Bucher's last cher said, were disorganized further resistance on our part as constituting a kind of trial
attempts f r o in fishermen in balloon, aimed at persuading ,
chance before the make a lengthy defense uof his smaboats. "I never expected would only end up in a com
plete slaughter of the crew." Washington before actually em-
decisions as skipper of the an organized warship type of As it turned out, the crews- barking on formal negotiations
Pueblo when North Korean attack," he said. complete as that it. would he wiser to agree
gunboats closed in on him off Rear Adm. Marshall W. Lion was not as gracefully to a nonnuclear, re-
White of the court asked Bu- Bucher had figured it was sirinct.ed status for its bases on
Wonsan on Jan. 23, 1968, while he was running the
Laster this week he Is sched- cher if at some point his orders Pueblo from the bridge. the at ce Okinawa than risk a naior
tiled to make a final, but against appearing provocative To- crisis in Japanese-Amens .!n re-
brief, were not superseded by the day, he took the blame for litions.
public statement-then this. He also told the court Mr. Sato, though l edoine hi:;
courtfor the judgement of the events off Wonsan. "At what that the Navy should have statements with nuaIif c aeons.
court. instant did.this policy cease to
be in effect?" White asked. Provided more guidance for made the followino ' points:
Displaying more energy such destruction. tOkinawa ahnutrt he reruroed
than he could summon up last Bucher's Reply He said he could have got- to Japan within threes to five
Jan. 20 when he began telling ten rid of the secret papers years.
his story to the court, the 41- "I can't think of a time when 4IWhen it is returned, unless
t," before the Koreans Boarded ~olrtc special is provision is made,
year-old commander-discard- the policy was not in effec the ship if he had thought to
Bucher replied. "The informa- the American bases there
ing the glasses he wore in ear- tion I had was that there would tear them up, stack them in should be nverned by the
lier appear case ances-reste d his head, pour diesel fuel over,
on following his orders to possibly be aircraft arriving them and set the pile afire, j military security treaty now in
the letter. on the scene shortly, existence between Japan and
"If help did arrive, I want- "I hold myself accountable the United States.
'Acting In Faithful Response' ed to be able to move out of for not thinking of that. de- (hAs this treaty his hen in-
"I was acting in faithful re- there. There were not more struction strategem, Pitcher I terpreted by Japan, nuclear
sponse to the orders I had than 10 North Korean officers said, adding: "We should have warhen.d5 are not aIlo~a' d in
been given," he told the court. and enlisted men aboard our been provided with a better- Japanese t^rritory. '1'hr tin;te(I
"My orders were specific as to ship. It would have been en- thought-Gut plan by the Navy ! States must undertake "prior
re] for the implementation of c'.onsultations" before bringing
he not to start a war out tiY possible to overcome in such weapons, and Japan
there." them if our planes had shown emergency destruction" will such w answer "nn" to
This is why, he said, he did up. I would have made an at- In another mildly expressed such lwaysts. The Sato to
not take the tarpaulins off the tempt to do so. complaint, Bucher said that inet will uphold the three "non-
nciples"-non-mom
two 50-caliber machine guns "I felt strongly about fol- the pictures of the Pueblo et will
1 nuclear he had-one in the bow and lowing my orders not to be crew making obscene gestures ufacture, non possession and
one in the stern--when the provocative. This, more than in North Korean propaganda nonintroduction of nuclear i
Koreans started harassing the anything else, guided my ac- photos should have been kept weapons.
tion on that day." in official U.S. Government These comments contrasted
Pueblo as she lay off. Wonsan
collecting electronic intelli- Vice Adm. Harold G. Bowen, circles. Once they appeared in markedly with previous state-
president of the court, bore in art American news magazine, ments by the Premier, in which
goose. on the issue of whether the he said, the Pueblo' crew was he stressed that Japan could
small far arms using the P s severely 'beaten for tricking afford to keep nuclear weapons
--- 10 Thomplo mpson Korean boarding attempt did h~
not put the Pueblo in a strug- their captors. out of the home islands nn
machine guns and one car. Another action in the United because the United States had
bins - Bucher said: gle for survival - a condition the unrestricted use of military
- s could States which prompted the facilities in Okinawa.
"Firing the guns to repel under Which her guns
beat
the boarders would have re be used.
stilted in killing three or four "If the situation is not one men, c he to said, came the after Pueblo a _ home with him.
of them, but it would have man (trying to board the ship) Congressman In a speech had Then Bucher prepared him-
resulted linked them to the Central In- self for a final closed session
in total demolishing but is an organized boarding telligence Agency. with the admirals. He popped
of the ship." party which you can observe,
I "At the time the Koreans is that a matter of survival?" Bucher 's wife, Rose, and her a headache pill into his mount.
Father were in the audience. gulped down some water and
were obviously going to board Bowen asked.
the ship," Bucher continued, "If its a matter of the loss As the crowd filed out, Bucher then strode out of the court i
"I did not consider that re- of the ship, or salvation of the called after her, ".Remember room-shaking out a cigarette
gelling boarders wet what I said, Mommy." He had as he reached the hall where
J~`[1PrFfe *6"rWe'P4fi ~e5 UZ/1did9:ib1I RBPVPlM 4RO0C0300r11Es00i1Im4ke.
 ."4SULTS ?/10/09 :
SHELLING-Cont'd 12 March 1969 P2
cities" in South Vietnam a vio-
lat'ion of the Oct. 31 under- APOLOGIZED
standing that led to an end of APOLOGIZED
Artlieriran bombing of North
Vietnam. The American version
is that Hanoi understood that
the bombing halt could not be
continued if major cities were
attacked indiscriminately or
the demilitarized zone abused.
The continuing enemy offen-
sive is reported to have led Mr.
Nixon to delay the opening
suistantive secret bargaining
in aril.
! .. ome officials had hoped that
the President would give the
goalahead for such talks when
lie was in Paris during his Euro-
pe4n tour two weeks ago, but
the enemy shelling of Saigon
and other South Vietnamese
cities was said to have inter-
fered with any such plans.
In addition, some officials
assert that Washington has not
vet won agreement from the
South Vietnamese Government
for! secret four-way talks that
would involve both Saigon and
the National Liberation Front
of South Vietnam - the Viet-
corfg.
The 17-day-old enemy offen-
sive, by focusing attention on
the, battlefield rather than
efforts to work out agreed
negotiation positions, is said to
have complicated the problem
of getting secret negotiations
on' substantive issues started.
It has long been the United
States view that only in secret
sessions could allied negotia-
tors make real progress in
rive-and-take bargaining with
North Vietnam and the Front.
This was the pattern last
.utmer.
3 Contacts Since Summer
Since the Nixon Administra-
tine took office there have
FOR LAOS ACTION
Official Also Says Cambodia
Is Releasing 4 Airmen
It Py3APQA4 80003 14922 APHIA INQUIRER
12 March 1969 P5
Widow Finally Accepts
The Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON, March I i
(AP)--A widow who had re-
fused for months to accept a
Medal of Honor awarded to
her husband posthumously
for bravery in Vietnam con-
sented yesterday to receive
By PAUL W. WARD 1 it, but only in secret.
[waahn.gton Bureau of The Sun] Mrs. Mary Jo Sargent of
Washington, March 11-The Hampton, Va., widow of First
State I e artment disclosed to Lieut. Ruppert Leon Sargent
p of the Army, was given the
day that it has expressed "re- nation's highest military
grets1' to Laos over an intrusion award by a brigadier general
by ! r`ierican troops into that who called at her home, Pen-
officially neutral country. tagon sources said. Lieuten-
It ]most simultaneously took ant Sargent was killed in
note of a broadcast from Cam- 1967 when he threw himself
on two enemy hand grenades.
bodia', which abuts Laos, an- She wanted no publicity
pounding the release of four and has opposed accepting
American airmen held there the medal because she is a
sinceFebruary 12. member of Jehovah's Wit-
t k h' f nesses, her mother-in-law,
R
J
M
N. Korean and U. S. Troops
Exchange Machine-Gun Fire
PANMUN.JOM, Korea, March
11 (UPI).-U. S. infantrymen
guarding the western sector of
the Korean truce line traded
hundreds of rounds of machin-?
gun and rifle fire with 'North
Korean soldiers Tuesday onlc
a few miles from this flla_.c
where a meeting of the Korean
Military Armistice Commission
was under way.
The United Nations Command
said 2nd U. S. Infantry Divisi:rn
troops suffered no casualties in
the two-hour firefight. Com-
munist casualties, if any, were
not known.
(A Communist North Korea
central news agency broadcast,
ofe, t
.
cC os ey, c to . Mrs. Janet Sargent, also a monitored in Tokyo, said
State Department press officer, member of Jehovah's Wit-
related their release to the fact nesses, said. "scores" of U. S. soldiers were
that "within the past week" ? _ killed and wounded.)
President Nixon had sent Prince The shooting began around
chief ref state, a personal mes- Sullivan did express regrets to 12:30 P.M. even as the arm:s-
chiefof state, a personal mes- Laos's prime minister for the rice commission was holding its
sage
sage ''about the detainees." penetration and said he was 285th meeting in this truce vil-
Are Vell, Happy" informed the Marine elements ]age, 45 miles north of Seoul,
,,We are very happy, of had already left Laotian terri- U. S S. Air Fa Maj. Gen.
James B. Knapp, pp, new UNC
course, over this humanitarian tory," Mr. McCloskey con- senior delegate, interrupted the
action by Prince Sihanouk," Mr. tinued. proceedings to tell the North
McCloskey said. Occurred In Tactic Korean Communists:
The four men comprised the The first report of the intru- "I have just received infor-
crewcf an L19 that, according Sion to be published in this coun- mation that a fire fight was
to the Cambodian government, try said that if occurred during initiated by North Koreans . .
was brought down by ground an operation allied forces began when they fired machine gun-
fire 21 days ago. about six weeks ago in a part of across the military demar-a
One member, identiifed only South Vietnam abutting Laos; tion line toward our guardpost
as Laird Osborn, was hospital- that about 100 marines seized near Pammunjom."
ized until last Friday when, the several hilltops just inside The 54-year-old general, wh,
Cambodian government an- Laos's frontier there; and that succeeded U. S. Army Maj
pounced. he had "completely re- they held them for about a week Gen. Gilbert H. Woodward i:?
nninced nontacts between rejoin iris colleagues. the main force's flanks. to North Korean Army Ma j
\merican and North Viet Asked also about a reported A Laotian government press Gen. R. Chung Sung, Corn
narnese negotiators. Two were 1 incursion into Laos by Ameri communique today said in part: munist chief delegate, that r
co rtesy calls and the third in- joint observer to investigate the inci
over battlefield incidents. "message" about it had been bat in the upper extremity of the dent.
But well-placed officials as- sent to Vientiane, Mr. McClos- A Shau Valley, certain elements Ri, who also took o'-er it
sett there have been no secret I key said: of the American marines pene February from Maj. Gen. Pak,
sessions on key issues such as "I am informed there was a trated less than 2 kilometers hung Kul;;, refused to respond
m tual troop withdrawals or , penetration of Laos's border up into Lao territory. This penetra? to the proposal and insisted the
the political future of South to 2 kilometers 111/4 miles] by tion had been committed just at clash was started by the Ameri-
Vietnam. United States marines . . . some the time of a tactical maneuver
Some officials favor secret can troops.
negotiations with North Viet- time within the last two weeks." when a Marine unit was inten- U. S. military officials said
nary on military issues. But "Ambassador tWilliam H.1 sively engaged near the Laotian a Communist guardpast opened
thers doubt that this approach frontier where there was no ci- fire with light machine guns on
others'
could succeed until Saigon and vilian population. the outpost of the United Na-
th Front begin simultaneous testing the President but also
they yey are seeking to o improve U.S. Assurance tionis Command and the Ameri-
talks on political issues. their bargaining position in "The United States ambassa- can soldiers returned the fire,
the reason is that Hanoi and Paris, mainly with M-14 rifles. The
the Front have lop put major der expressed his regrets to his
g "They are still deeply wedded exchange lasted on and off for
stress on their demands for re- highness, the prime minister,
lacing the. Present Saigon re- anythi hing in idea t h h thte n ne e th can'tgotiations get over the incident and assured nearly two hours, they said,
p but no Americans were hit.
time with a coalition governthat they don't win on the bat- him his country continues , to In addition to the 82d Airborne
nrnt. tlefield," an Allied diplomat avoid extending the hostilities to
troopers
South Vietnam was edging , about South ops
said, "and they are fighting Lao territory. He also informed roan soldiers s and d U. S S. . t troops
toward secret talks with the primarily over what kind of Po- the prime minister that the
Front, American officials re- litical settlemnt they will get." American Marine elements have stationed in South Korea will
port, but was not ready for In this view, the enemy com- already left Lao territory." take part in the games.
substantive negotiations in mangers have felt compelled to ",I American military officials
se ret by the time the enemy apply, pressure to compensate "The royal Laotian govern- I said all of the airborne divi-
offensive began on Feb. 23. for the relative lull in their ac- ment," the communique con- I sion's 2d Brigade will have at,-
some American officials and tivity in November, December eluded, "must once again affirm i rived in South Korea by Friday.
Allied diplomats now expect and ~nnuary. Some diplomats ~ its clear intention to prevent the The climax of the mock air-
enemy forces to press theircur- believe the enemy commanders Vietnamese conflict from being borne assault will come when
rent offensive to the point of felt tht':ir offensive all the more extention to prevent the Viet? another battalion of the brigade
provoking some military re- nece stry because American namese conflict from being ex- will arrive directly from Fort
sponse from the Nixon Admin- and South Vietnamese officials tended to its territory, a position lira
istration. were talking optimistically of g after .a 31-hour flight
According to this view, the gaining an upper hand militarily which flows naturally from its aboard Starlifters, and drop
North Vietnamese Q V~ bpd. :niAht~: pR,'f,Yn~ ~1Y~'8W9,498~Q~Aft eercise areas. The
cong leadership are` litfta jjy {Tot M Aft not land in Korea.
 . Humctl 2V'%:t'1.tt3
Approved For Release QM OM Z 6191-RDP71 B00364R000300150017-1
to U1. it b8iuii uGt~U L ;~~:
By GEN. THOMAS A. LANE;
The Pueblo publicity has brought a mcdiately that the military code did not would have been no resistance fro: n
rash 077, 7, 7ormed comment about the apply,- He should have ,ordered the North Viet Nam nor from Red Crina
military code of conduct. The present crew to sign any and all lies put before nor from the Soviet Union. , They were
code was adopted after the Korean War them; and thereby he WOUld have given just waiting to see what we would do-
had given us our first experience with, the world the true value of the -con= and they 'had no 'intention of starting
Communist treatment of war prisoners. fcssions"" exacted ' by the barbarians. a war With the United States.
Instead of acting against the Communist t
it is to be hoped that the Naval The disintyration of nations begins at:
barbarity, we tried to stce, our soldiers .,
to withstand the treatment, That is the Court of Inquiry will UriuClStarid these the ,top. 1vni,l tii'C people Still have
elementary aspects of the code of con- the moral strength and dedication, to
kind of national leadership we have. duct and commend the Pueblo crew for serve their patrimony, ,they are un-
The code of conduct has no applica- .ts courageous behavior. Like any other preserve
to find leaders worthy- Of the Su-
Lion to the Pueblo case. The code is law, the code must be applied to the, premc office. The qualities of compro
designed to guide the conduct of soldiers j conditions for which- it was designed. mize and accommodation which assure
captured by tile. enemy in time of war.: liitical
'Its basic premise is that the captured There arc other values in tea code.domestic pol success arc the very
1 It stresses organizational integrity after gtlalliies w'111C11 rCrldu a man incapable
soldier must sacrifice his own life' if p so,-Vat prisoncrs will Anti nue? of mectini= threat to national survival.
necessary rather than ca tune ~ 4 a
y give information.-'to act as a rilitary unit to tile' extent History is filled with illustrations, of
which would jeopardize the Lives of his., that conditons ? allow. It?. commands which the latest arc our own.
buddies who arc still fighting. That ?is .mutual support and.discipline and the
a reasonable proposition. maintenance of? inorale, which is so im The shame. of the Pueblo falls no
But On Pueblo was not on a war portani for survival oil its crew but on the I rtsldenl of the.
h
d
.,u?g
a
sup-. ,?,,
fact by civi,i..ed nations. As the Pueblo?hcar- ';
posedly been stol)ped. In , we were ( ir
i
i
f
d
th
Co
~
H
orrne
gs
ave aga
n.
n
us,
e
m
-
SO umvariike that ,the I resident would . nnuniStS er, prize . and ?, cruelly. abuse .,
_Our, problem i, not in the behavior`';
Under these circustanccs, it is Of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. It'
'
lies in the behavior of our political lead-
~
unreasonable to suggest that the
matie relations .with powers which prac-,.
lured in war. For wfiat burJose?
.
TO preserve an honor which the Lice such - demonic disregard. Cot. the,;
President and the American people yaws of civilized nations? ? Do they sup- ;
had already abandoned? . .! pose that by shutting their eyes to the.
real nature of the Communist.dcspotism
In the light of his ? own -action, the they are' somehow furthering the cause.
President should have announced iili-? of peace?
What really dcmoral/.cd the
Pueblo crew was the realization that, ;
opera ions, t4stiticcpC p bN~Release 11004(/ /09e: I~1Ai 2QP71i$QO364R000300150017-1
Pueblo incident ouid well bo ? such naive , ideas' about war? There
reocated. _ . ' .
they had been abandoned by their,
didn't have 'the power to free't.hem. ,
the mind and .the will to .do
'so..
` Our leaders had become so addled
by fears Of nuclear war -and hopes
.:,of peace by appeasement that-they
..could. not act. Soviet strategists
traded on this condition of our lead-
ers when they ordered the seizure of
the Pueblo.
.compel Jic release of ship and crew.
if, .'dent Johnson ? said no, that he did not ?
;, But when he proposed to do so, Presi-