Mellen - Blood in the water: how the US and Israel conspired to ambush the USS Liberty

Commander Dave Lewis has been a mentor for me and a beacon of light from the time I began the research for this project in 2014. At the time of the attack on the surveillance ship USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, Lewis served as its chief intelligence officer. Modest to a fault, he has been committed to uncovering the motive behind Israel's unrelenting ambush of his ship and open to the question of whether Israel acted alone. That the attack was premeditated, despite Israel's denials, is a given. My heartfelt gratitude to Commander Lewis for reading this manuscript prior to publication and helping me, as he puts it, to speak Navy.

Why Israel would murder thirty-four unarmed American sailors on a research vessel sailing in international waters and flying the Stars and Stripes has been a conundrum for those who survived and for authors who have attempted to unravel the motive for so vicious an attack. A fifty-plus-year cover-up has been maintained by both the state of Israel and the United Statesits CIA, its executive branch, its Congress, the NSA, the Joint Chiefs of Staffand the mainstream media. Agents of the Israeli Mossad have done their part in seeing that the truth remains inaccessible.

A lifelong Republican and a career naval officer, Commander Lewis surprised me by encouraging me to challenge the obvious lies, obfuscations, and contradictions that have been offered to the American public as credible history. Because I have enjoyed the confidence of Commander Lewis, many survivors of the attack have granted me personal interviews. I would like to thank Bryce Lockwood, Lloyd Painter, Jack Beattie, Ron Kukal, Ernie Gallo, Patricia Gallo, Dave Lucas, Joe Meadors, Jim Ennes, Joe Lentini, the late John Gidusko, Don Pageler, Moe Shafer, Phil Tourney, Jim Kavanagh, Ron Grantski, Bob Scarborough, Richard (Rocky) Sturman, Glenn Oliphant, Pat Blue, Gary Brummett, Kenneth Schaley, Larry Weaver, Larry Broyles Sr. (of the USS Davis), Harold Six, and David McFeggan.

Were it not for the stalwart efforts of Jim Ennes, none of the subsequent books could have been written. We are all indebted to him for his courage in defying the highest military authorities. He wrote his book against specific orders that he remain silent. It is upon his valorous effort that other authors have based their efforts.

I am grateful to Tom Blaney and Carole Blaney for their generosity, particularly at Norfolk.

I would also like to thank for his support and wisdom Richard Russell, a former naval historian and the editorial director of the Naval Institute Press. Rick was always available to set my craft upright when I seemed in danger of capsizing and has been a loyal and treasured friend.

Others who contributed to my understanding include Thomas Lowe Hughes, who was director of State Department intelligence at the time of the attack on Liberty; Bill Knutson, one of the ace fighter pilots who was stationed at the time on the USS America; Ken Halliwell, a historian of the technical components of the Liberty story; Ron Gotcher, the lawyer who prepared the war crimes petition on behalf of the Survivors; John L. Hadden, whose father was CIA chief of station in Tel Aviv at the time; Dr. Peter Flynn, who saved Dave Lewis's eyesight; British journalist Peter Hounam, who of all authors has come closest to penetrating the operation that included the assault on Liberty as a key component; Tim Thompson, whose father, Richard Thompson, a CIA asset, organized and financed the film USS Liberty: Dead in the Water; Carol Moore and Rupert Christiansen, Thompson's friends; Captain Richard L. Block, an air force intelligence officer at the time; Adlai Stevenson III; Tom Schaaf; Admiral Bobby Inman, who perceived at once that the Israeli explanation that the attack was an accident was false; Dennis Helms, son of CIA officer Richard Helms; Ted Arens for his hospitality in Michigan; author Max Holland; Captain Robert Kamansky; Matthew Aid; Len Osanic; Mark Weber; and Dr. Molly Peeney, my former creative writing student, a PhD in Slavic languages and literatures, who generously contributed her Russian language skills. Thanks too to Susan Galpin-Tyree for sharing her NSA files.

I wish especially to thank my FOIA lawyer, Dan Alcorn, for his stalwart and untiring efforts to pry the records of the 303 Committee from the government and for refusing to cease and desist in his efforts. Dan's rectitude has earned him the Agency's respect. Still, in 2018 CIA wound up denying our request, claiming that they had no such records, although previously they had admitted that they did and asked for postponements.

Research librarians stand tall as heroes of any historical effort. I want to acknowledge in particular John F. Shortal, historian for the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Laura Waayers, reference archivist for the Naval History and Heritage Command; the staff of Syracuse University Libraries; Barbara Cline, Jennifer Cuddeback, and Lara Hall at the LBJ Library in Austin; Ted Jackson of Georgetown University's Special Collections; Andrew Diamond at Paley Library, Temple University; and Michael Lavergne, Information and Privacy Coordinator for the Central Intelligence Agency.

My gratitude goes to Audrey Szepinski, who has worked for several years as my research assistant and who created my USS Liberty archive. A more generous, intelligent, and enthusiastic collaborator could not possibly be found. I wish also to thank my webmaster at joanmellen.com, John C. Tripp, whose kindness has been unparalleled, and Jeff Higgins, a self-effacing IT expert.

Efforts to unlock history's secrets are inevitably collaborative. Among those who provided suggestions and wisdom were Burton Hersh; Malcolm Blunt, an old and trusted friend to whom I am once more indebted, this time for having first mentioned the name John Hadden to me; Rex Bradford; and Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone, whose generosity and knowledge have always been sustaining.

Not least, I would like to express my gratitude to Karina Silva for her many kindnesses and her assistance with this project, and to Scott Allen; his help was a beacon of light. I would also like to send my gratitude to Jacqueline May Parkison at Prometheus Books for her help in shepherding this book through publication. For brilliant editing and insights at the penultimate moment, I am also grateful to Jade Zora Scibilia for her elegance, presence of mind, and moral stamina.

No literary agent in the times of Obama and Trump is likely to welcome a whistle-blowing author bringing truths no side finds comfortable. Blood in the Water deconstructs an event that even Richard Helms, the legendary director of Central Intelligence, with whom I occupy common ground on this subject, found appalling.

Thank you to my literary agent, Ellen Levine, who treated this project as no more challenging than any other even though I am advancing ideas that the institutions involved prefer remain absent from public scrutiny. Ellen represents an anachronistic triumph of professionalism in the literary sphere. Once more I am grateful.

Aid, Matthew M. The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

Allen, Robert J. Beyond Treason: Reflections on the Cover-Up of the June 1967 Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty, an American Spy Ship. Self-published, CreateSpace, 2012.

Bagley, Tennent H. Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2007.