Marine Staff Sergeant Bryce Lockwood was aboard the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy intelligence ship, when Israeli forces attacked it in international waters on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War; he survived the assault, helped rescue wounded shipmates, and spent decades pressing for an honest accounting of what he describes as a deliberate attack and a subsequent U.S. government cover-up.
The USS Liberty and Its Mission
The USS Liberty was a World War II victory-class freighter converted in 1965 into a state-of-the-art spy ship for the National Security Agency at a cost of $26 million, equipped with the UNIVAC 500 — then the world’s largest mobile computer — and staffed heavily with linguists and intercept operators.
Its mission was to monitor communications in the eastern Mediterranean as war loomed between Israel and its Arab neighbors (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Libya), particularly to track Soviet Tu-95 intelligence aircraft operating from Alexandria under Egyptian markings.
On June 5, 1967, hostilities broke out; the NSA ordered the Liberty to proceed at maximum speed from West Africa to the eastern Mediterranean, arriving on station June 7.
The ship carried 294 crew, roughly 190 of them intelligence specialists — Russian, Arabic, and Hebrew linguists, Morse operators, voice intercept operators, and cryptologists.
For two days prior to the attack, Israeli aircraft overflew the Liberty repeatedly at close range; pilots and off-duty crew waved to each other, and the ship’s U.S. markings and flag were clearly visible.
The Attack Begins: Air Assault
At approximately 14:00 local time on June 8, 1967, after a general quarters drill that morning, the Liberty came under sustained air attack by unmarked Israeli aircraft.
The air assault lasted roughly 25 minutes and included 826 large-caliber strikes: 30mm and 40mm cannon fire, heat-seeking rockets, and napalm dropped on both sides of the ship.
The attack destroyed life rafts, the captain’s gig, and the ship’s launch, eliminating means of evacuation; Israeli forces also jammed the Liberty’s distress frequencies, a violation of international law.
The ship’s intelligence spaces were in the forward cargo hold, accessible only by a narrow, steep ladderway two feet wide — the sole escape route for roughly 190 men below decks.
The Torpedo Strike and Below-Decks Ordeal
During a lull in the air attack, the captain announced an incoming torpedo on the starboard side; Lockwood, stationed below, was pulled into a conversation with Lieutenant Commander David Lewis about ditching classified materials in weighted canvas bags.
A torpedo struck the starboard side, lifting the ship out of the water and blowing a roughly 40-foot hole; fuel oil from ruptured tanks coated everything, and water rushed in rapidly.
Lockwood found sailor Joe Lentini trapped in wreckage with a shattered femur from a bulkhead that had mushroomed inward; he tried to pull him free as water rose to within 18 inches of the overhead.
Lockwood grabbed pipes hanging from the ceiling, held Lentini’s head above water, and shouted for order amid panic; he then lost consciousness.
When he came to, he was alone with the unconscious Lentini in rising oily water; he attempted three times to carry Lentini up the ladderway, slipping twice on oil-slicked rungs and a bent railing.
At the top, the hatch was dogged shut; sailor Bobby Schnell unbolted it and pulled Lockwood out; Phil Turney freed Lentini’s caught foot, and both men were taken to triage on the fantail.
Motor Torpedo Boat Attack and Machine Gunning
After the air attack, three Israeli motor torpedo boats circled the ship, raking it with heavy machine gun fire — 3,100 heavy-caliber strikes — and firing on life rafts in the water, another violation of international law.
The torpedo boats flew the Star of David; one officer on deck, who was Jewish, reportedly wept upon seeing the flag.
The Liberty’s holiday ensign (5 by 8 feet, the largest aboard) was hoisted on the port signal halyard and flew clearly in a stiff breeze; it was riddled with shrapnel.
Egyptian ships were painted black with Arabic markings; U.S. ships were gray with English hull numbers (the Liberty’s was GTR-5, denoting a non-combatant technical research vessel); firing on a non-combatant violates international law.
The Mayday Call and Cessation of Fire
A radioman realized the Israelis could not jam distress frequencies while guiding rockets without disrupting the rockets’ flight; during a rocket salvo, a mayday was transmitted: “Firefox, Firefox, this is Rockstar. Rockstar under attack by unidentified surface and air units. Require immediate assistance.”
As soon as the mayday was acknowledged, the shooting stopped.
Sailors deployed three life rafts; engines revved and more machine gun fire was heard; one sailor returned saying the rafts had been riddled.
A rumor persists that a life raft marked “U.S. Navy” and the wheel from the torpedo boat that fired the fatal torpedo are displayed as war trophies in the Israeli Naval Museum in Haifa.
Israeli Helicopters and the False-Flag Theory
Two large armored helicopters with armed troops appeared overhead; deck crew believed the intent was to board, sink the ship, and leave no survivors.
Lockwood and many survivors believe the Liberty was set up by the U.S. government — a false-flag operation to blame Egypt and draw the United States into the war on Israel’s side.
President Lyndon Johnson was closely aligned with Israel; his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, had advocated for Palestinian refugee return, a position Israel opposed.
Admiral Lawrence Geis, commander of Task Force 6 (carriers Saratoga, America, and cruiser Little Rock), told Commander Lewis days later that he had launched aircraft with nuclear weapons to aid the Liberty; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them back.
Conventional aircraft were then launched; McNamara ordered them back again; Geis demanded higher authority, and President Johnson reportedly said, “Get those aircraft back. I will not have my allies embarrassed.”
The president knew the attackers were Israeli despite the use of unmarked aircraft; CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton was also a Mossad asset, reinforcing the false-flag suspicion.
Casualties and Denied Recognition
Thirty-four Americans were killed: one civilian NSA Arabic linguist (Alan Blue), two Marines (Sergeant Jack Raper, Corporal Ed Ray, both Arabic linguists), and 31 sailors (linguists, Morse operators, intercept operators).
One hundred seventy-four were wounded; 28 Purple Hearts were awarded, but several wounded crewmen never received them.
Machinist’s Mate Jack Bey had shrapnel in his skull discovered years later by the VA; a Navy chief removed a projectile from his own calf and treated himself but was never awarded a Purple Heart.
Discovering the Attackers Were Israeli
Lockwood did not know the attackers were Israeli until the next morning; the aircraft were unmarked, but the torpedo boats flew the Star of David.
The “mistaken identity” claim — that Israel confused the Liberty for the Egyptian horse transport El Quseir (a WWI vessel with a 4-inch muzzle-loading cannon) — is implausible: the El Quseir could not have shelled Israeli forces; the explosions Israel cited were from captured Egyptian ammunition being destroyed.
Orders Not to Discuss the Attack
As intelligence personnel, the crew operated under standard secrecy norms: “what you see here, what you say here, when you leave here, leave it here.”
Lockwood spoke freely in secure spaces at his home base in Bremerhaven, Germany, where many colleagues had served on similar ships; he was never personally ordered to stay silent, though a JAG officer brought papers for him to sign.
His wife learned of the attack from a neighbor on June 9; when Lockwood returned home days later, he was physically devastated — burned, oozing pus, reeking of fuel oil — and woke screaming for years without her knowing why.
Long-Term Impact and Reconnection with Crew
Lockwood did not reconnect with crewmates until 1982, 15 years after the attack; at a 1986 reunion in Milwaukee, he learned the identities of men he had tried to save: Joe Lentini (who died in 2021) and Dave McFagen (wheelchair-bound from spinal injuries).
The USS Liberty Memorial Library in Grafton, Wisconsin, was dedicated despite opposition from local Jewish groups due to a nearby former Nazi youth camp; it remains named for the ship.
For decades the official narrative was “mistaken identity”; Lockwood and other survivors reject this: the ship’s markings were clear, distress frequencies were deliberately jammed, life rafts were machine-gunned, and the attack was too precisely coordinated (heat-seeking missiles targeted antennas) to be accidental.
The “Mistaken Identity” Narrative and Political Pressure
Dismissing the attack as an accident ignores basic naval recognition: gray hull, English markings, U.S. flag, non-combatant designation; jamming distress frequencies and machine-gunning life rafts cannot be accidental.
Commander Lewis stated before his death that if it was an attack, it was the best-planned in military history — all elements indicate advance planning.
In 2005, AIPAC official Steven Rosen told journalist Jeffrey Goldberg: “You see this napkin? In 24 hours, I can have the signature of 70 senators on this napkin,” illustrating political pressure that silences Congressional inquiry.
Congressman Thomas Massie spoke on the House floor in 2024 urging investigation under Article I, Section 8 (piracy on the high seas, offenses against the law of nations); his primary opponent received millions in funding and Massie was defeated.
At a recent Capitol Hill event, roughly 15-17 survivors and family members attended; Congressmen Darrell Issa and John McGuire personally greeted them, but no formal action has followed.
What Lockwood Wants from Congress
An open investigation while survivors are still alive to testify; all evidence made public; charges filed if warranted.
The same transparency demanded for the Epstein files: “Let it hang out. Let us all look at it. If someone’s guilty, fine, charge them.”
He does not know if it will happen and says he does not care — his duty is to speak the truth.
Personal Reflections
Lockwood left the Marine Corps, attended Bible college, served as an assistant pastor in Key West, and later ran a trucking company; he has not preached in 40 years (“preaching doesn’t pay very well when you’re honest”).
His daughter Dorothy (called “D”) is a retired speech pathologist with a garden gift shop in Knoxville; his youngest son medically retired from the Air Force after an accident; his oldest daughter Marsha retired after 30 years teaching gifted children.
He remains disgusted that the U.S. government ignored an attack on its own Navy ship and continues to supply Israel with $3.8 billion annually in aid while Palestinian and Lebanese civilians suffer.
