USS Liberty

Statement of Rear Admiral Merlin H. Staring, JAGC, USN (Ret.)

Former Judge Advocate General of the Navy

US Navy Memorial
June 8, 2007

I AM HONORED TO BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS TRIBUTE TO THE CREW AND SURVIVORS OF THE USS LIBERTY – RUTHLESSLY ATTACKED BY ISRAELI FORCES ON 8 JUNE 1967. AS A NAVY JAG-CORPS CAPTAIN, I HAD ONLY A BRIEF OFFICIAL CONTACT WITH THAT EVENT AT THE TIME – AND NOT UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER DID I LEARN THE FULL FACTS. WHEN I DID, I BECAME AWARE – AND I AM NOW OF THE FIRMEST CONVICTION – THAT THE LIBERTY HONOREES HAVE SUFFERED – FOR 40 YEARSS – AN UNPRECEDENTED INJUSTICE – AND AT THE HANDS OF OUR VERY OWN NAVY AND GOVERNMENT.

I WAS THE SENIOR OF TWO NAVY LAWYERS WHO WERE AT THE TIME THE STAFF LEGAL ADVISORS TO ADMIRAL JOHN SIDNEY McCAIN, JR., OUR NAVY’S AREA COMMANDER IN EUROPE WITHIN WHOSE COMMAND LIBERTY WAS THEN OPERATING. I WAS NOT BROUGHT INTO THE MATTER AT ITS EARLY STAGES, BUT I WAS AWARE OF ITS PROGRESS FROM MESSAGE TRAFFIC. ON THE AFTERNOON OF 17 JUNE 1967, HOWEVER, A 650-PAGE NAVY COURT OF INQUIRY REPORT WAS SENT TO ME BY ADMIRAL McCAIN “FOR MY REVIEW” – AN EXPECTED AND IN FACT A REQUIRED STEP IN THE NAVY’S INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS.

I DEVOTED MY ATTENTION EXCLUSIVELY TO THAT RECORD FOR ABOUT 18 HOURS, INCLUDING ONLY A 4-HOUR REST BREAK, UNTIL EARLY FORENOON ON 18 JUNE. AT THAT TIME THE RECORD WAS WITHDRAWN FROM ME BY ADMIRAL McCAIN WHEN HE LEARNED THAT I WAS ONLY ABOUT A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH IT AND WAS HAVING PROBLEMS FINDING EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT SOME OF THE COURT’S FINDINGS. I WAS NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THE RESULTS OF MY PARTIAL REVIEW. I LATER LEARNED THAT ADMIRAL McCAIN HAD ON 18 JUNE PLACED AN APPROVING ENDORSEMENT ON THE RECORD AND THAT THE COURT’S PRESIDENT HAD DEPARTED LONDON WITH THE RECORD, ALSO ON 18 JUNE, EN ROUTE TO NAVY HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON.

IN NO WAY COULD THAT 650-PAGE INVESTIGATIVE RECORD HAVE BEEN COMPETENTLY REVIEWED, AND CONSCIENTIOUSLY CONSIDERED, BY ANY OTHER LEGAL OR STAFF COUNSEL, OR BY THE CONVENING AUTHORITY HIMSELF, BEFORE HE PLACED HIS REQUIRED ENDORSEMENT ON IT, AS HE DID.

THAT HASTY COURT OF INQUIRY MET AND CONDUCTED ITS BUSINESS WITHIN A MERE 7 DAYS, HAVING BEEN SPECIFICALLY ORDERED BY THE CONVENING AUTHORITY TO DO SO. IT WAS “THE ONLY U. S. GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION INTO [THAT] ATTACK,” AS THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY HAS ASSURED CONGRESS IS THE CASE. ORDERED AT THE OUTSET TO CONDUCT AND COMPLETE ITS PROCEEDINGS WITHIN ONE WEEK, THE COURT DID SO. AS A PREFACE TO ITS FINDINGS OF FACT, HOWEVER, THE COURT ITSELF CITED IN ITS WRITTEN RECORD, AS AN “UNUSUAL DIFFICULTY” THAT IT HAD EXPERIENCED IN CONDUCTING ITS PROCEEDINGS, “THE NECESSITY OF INVESTIGATING SUCH A MAJOR NAVAL DISASTER OF INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE IN AN EXTREMELY ABBREVIATED TIME FRAME.” THE ATTACK THE COURT WAS ORDERED TO INVESTIGATE HAD KILLED 34 AMERICANS (33 U. S. NAVY PERSONNEL AND ONE AMERICAN CIVILIAN); IT HAD WOUNDED AN ADDITIONAL 172 AMERICAN SAILORS; AND IT HAD SO DEVASTATED THE FORTY-MILLION-DOLLAR USS LIBERTY THAT SHE WAS ULTIMATELY SOLD FOR A PITTANCE AS SCRAP.

THE NAVY COURT WAS DIRECTED TO INQUIRE INTO “ALL THE PERTINENT FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO AND CONNECTED WITH” THE 8 JUNE 1967 ATTACK ON THE LIBERTY. THAT IT DID NOT AND COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE DONE SO IS APPARENT FROM THE NAVY’S OFFICIAL RECORD. IT HAD BEEN ORDERED, FIRST OF ALL, TO COMPLETE ITS INQUIRY INTO A MASSIVELY COMPLEX EVENT WITHIN A MERE 7 DAYS. IN ITS ATTEMPT TO DO SO, DURING ITS 3 DAYS OF PROCEEDINGS AT MALTA, IT HAD ACCESS TO, AND TOOK TESTIMONY FROM, ONLY 14 OF THE 260 SURVIVING MEMBERS OF LIBERTY’S COMPLEMENT – MANY OF HER 172 WOUNDED CREWMEN, OBVIOUSLY INCLUDING MANY WHO HAD BEEN AT THE HEART OF THE ACTION, HAVING ALREADY BEEN MEDEVACED TO OTHER U. S. NAVY VESSELS AND SHORESIDE FACILITIES FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION. NEVER THEREAFTER WERE THOSE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT WITNESSES OFFICIALLY QUESTIONED CONCERNING THEIR OBSERVATIONS OF OR EXPERIENCES DURING THE ATTACK.

IT IS HEARTENING TO KNOW THAT A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF THE LIBERTY SURVIVORS OF THAT ATTACK ARE STILL WITH US, AND ABLE COMPETENTLY TO TESTIFY TO THEIR EXPERIENCES OF 40 YEARS AGO TODAY WERE THEY TO BE GIVEN THAT OPPORTUNITY, WHICH THEY SEEK. IT IS DISHEARTENING TO KNOW, HOWEVER, HOW MANY OF LIBERTY’S COMPLEMENT ARE NO LONGER WITH US. I JOIN THIS CEREMONY IN HONOR OF BOTH OF THOSE CATEGORIES – AND I DO SO IN BOTH THE HOPE AND THE EXPECTATION THAT OUR NAVY, AND OUR GOVERNMENT, WILL NOW FINALLY FACE UP TO THE OBLIGATION TO ATONE FOR THE NEGLECT AND THE INJUSTICES THEY HAVE WREAKED AND COUNTENANCED IN THE USS LIBERTY MATTER FOR 40 LONG YEARS.