WARREN D. HEANEY FILE PTSD QUESTIONAIRE RESPONSES SIGNATURE. 1..U. S. LIBERTY GTR-5 — AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE SHIP 2. COMMISSARY — SUPPLY DIVISION/RATE CS3 3.. JUNE 8, 19671 WAS ON THE FORECASTLE OF THE SHIP AT NOONTIME TALKING WITH PETTY OFFICER TROY L. GREEN WHEN A LOW FLYING JET FLEW OVER OUR SHIP MAKING SEVERAL PASSES. WE COULD SEE THE PILOT AND WAVED TO HIM AND HE WAVED BACK. THE STAR OF DAVID WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE WINGS OF THE AIRCRAFT, AFTER SEVERAL PASSES HE LEFT. TWO HOURS AFTER THE ISRAELI PLANE LEFT, WE WERE UNDER ATTACK BY ISRAELI FIGHTER JETS AND TORPEDO BOATS(GUN SHIPS) WE WERE CRUISING AT ABOUT 5 KNOTS(IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS)OFF THE COAST OF THE SINAI PENINSULA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. IT WAS 2:20 PM AND I WAS IN THE GALLEY WHEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WERE LOUD EXPLOSIONS ALL AROUND ME, AND GENERAL QUARTERS WAS SOUNDED. FIFTY CALIBER ARMOR PIERCING BULLETS WERE GOING THROUGH THE BULKHEADS OF THE GALLEY. I HIT THE DECK AND CRAWLED ON ALL FOURS, MAKING MY WAY TO MY STEAMIACKET KETTLES AND FILLED THEM WITH WATER JUST IN CASE WE LOST ENGINEERING. THEN I MADE MY WAY TO MY G.Q STATION. I WAS CLIMBING UP THE LADDER TOPSIDE WHEN THE SHIP SHOOK WHEN THE BOMBS HIT THE SHIP FROM FIGHTER JETS. I FELL OFF THE LADDER. I GOT BANGED UP, BUT JUST SUPERFICIAL BRUISES DOWN MY BACK AND LEGS. DODGING BOMBS OF NAPALM AND SCRAPNEL I MADE IT TO MY G.Q. STATION WHICH IS FIRE AND DAMAAGECONTROL AND WATER TIGHT INTEGRITY OF THE FORWARD PART OF THE SHIP(FORECASTLE)._I WAS PUTTING OUT FIRES WHEN THE BRIDGE ANNOUNCED....”PREPARE FOR TORPEDO ATTACK”, WE MANAGED TO. MANEUVER AWAY FROM THE FIRST TORPEDO. BY THIS TIME THERE WERE MEN DYING TOPSIDE FROM ROCKETS AND BOMBS FROM THE JETS. I SAW MEN SPLIT IN HALF AND BODY PARTS EVERYWHERE. AT THAT TIME I WAS ORDERED TO HELP BRING THE INJURED MEN TO THE MESS DECK AND HELP WITH THEIR WOUNDS. WE TURNED THE MESS INTO A HOSPITAL ROOM. WE ONLY HAD ONE DOCTOR ON THE SHIP AND HE HAD BEEN WOUNDED AND STILL FOUGHT AGAINST ALL ODDS TO TRY AND SAVE AS MANY MEN AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. AS WE WERE HELPING THEWOUNDED ANOTHER TORPEDO ALERT CAME OVER THE P.A. SYSTEM. I WAS STANDING OVER ONE OF MY SHIPMATES(LARRY WEAVER)WHO WAS LYING ON ONE OF THE TABLES WE TURNED INTO BEDS BY PLACING BUNK MATTRESSES ON THEM AND I HELD HIM IN PLACE WHEN THE TORPEDO HIT THE SHIP ON THE STARBOARD SIDE. THE SHIP ROCKED UP ON THE, STARBOARD SIDE. SPARKS WERE FLYING EVERYWHERE AND ALL THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AND THEN CAME BACK ON BY EMERGENCY GENERATORS. AT THIS TIME THE SHIP WAS TAKING ON WATER AND WE HAD A BAD LIST TO THE STARBOARD SIDE. IMANAGED TO HOLD LARRY ON THE TABLE, THEN CAM ETHE ORDER TO ....."PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP”. WE MOVED THE WOUNDED TOPSIDE. I WAS STANDING AT THE PORT RAIL WITH ENS. JOHN SCOTT AND OTHER SURVIVORS AND RELEASED THE LIFE RAFTS OVERBOARD. THE COMPACT RAFTS ARE DESIGNED TO SINK TO 25 FEET AT WHICH DEPTH THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO INFLATE BY CO2 AND COME TO THE SURFACE. ALL WE SAW WERE BUBBLES. NOT ONE RAFT SURFACED. THEY WERE ALL SHOT UP BY 50 CALIBER BULLETS FROM THE TORPEDO BOATS. (SHOOTING UP LIFE RAFTS AND LIFE BOATS ARE A VIOLATION OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION). ‘THE WATER WAS RED WITH BLOOD FROM THE TWENTY FOUR MEN WHO DIED FROM THE TORPEDO THAT DESTROYED THE COMMUNICATIONS. CENTER. SHARKS WERE SWIMMING AROUND THE SHIP FEASTING ON BODY PARTS FLOATING OUT OF THE TORPEDO HOLE. WE COULDN'T ABANDON SHIP. SO WE WERE ORDERED TO TAKE THE WOUNDED BACK TO THE MESS DECKS. AFTER DOING THAT, I RETURNED TO FIRE AND DAMAGE CONTROL. THE FLOODED COMMUNICATIONS CENTER BULKHEADS HAD TO BE SHORED UP WITH PLANKING AND JACKS, SO THE WALLS WOULD NOT BREACH UNDER PRESSURE OF WATER COMING IN AND OUT OF THE TORPEDO HOLE. OUR CAPTAIN, WILLIAM MCGONAGLE, WAS A FIRM BELIEVER IN A LOT OF DRILLING. WE DRILLED EVERY DAY. IF IT WASN'T FOR OUR CAPTAIN AND THE WAY HE HANDLED THE SHIP AND THE CONSTANT DRILLING EVERY DAY, THE SHIP WOULD HAVE GONE DOWN. THE SHIPP WAS PEPPERED WITH 822 ROCKET HOLES, MANY WERE ON OR BELOW THE WATER LINE. THEY HIT EVERY ANTENNA WE HAD UP WITH PRECISION. WHEN REALIZED HOW LONG IT WAS TAKING TO TRY TO SINK US, THEY PULLED BACK AND THE ATTACK WAS OVER. IT HAD LASTED 75 MINUTES. I THEN WENT ON TO PLUGGING ROCKET HOLES ALONG AND ABOVE THE WATER LINE AND PUMPING OUT THE FLODDED COMPARTMENTS. WHEN THAT WAS DONE, I WENT BACK TO THE MESS DECKS TO ASSIST WITH THE WOUNDED WHILE OTHER SHIPMATES REMOVED THE DEAD FROM TOPSIDE AND PUT THE BODY BAGS IN MY REFRIGERATOR(REFER).JUICE AND I REFUSED TO LEAVE THE BRIDGE UNTIL HE DRANK A GOOD AMOUNT OF IT. DOCTOR KIEFER WAS ALSO INJURED, BUT CONTINUED TO WORK TO SAVE AS MANY AS HE COULD, BUT HE COULD NOT SAVE THEM ALL. WHATHE DID WES REMARKABLE. IN MY OPINION, DR. KIEFER SHOULD RECEIVE THE MEDAL OF HONOR ALSO. BUT AT THE WHITE HOUSE, NOT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IN A NAVY YARD LIKE THEY DID WITH OUR CAPTAIN. IN THE PAST FEW YEARS INFORMATION HAS SURFACED AS TO WHY PRESIDENT JOHNSON CALLED THE AMERICAN JETS BACK AND LEFT US OUT THERE TO DIE. THE DISCLOSURE SAID HE DID NOT WANT TO EMBARRASS OUR ALLIES, BECAUSE HE WAS RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION AND DID NOT WANT TO LOSE THE JEWISH VOTE. WHEN WE ARRIVED IN VIRGINIA AT N.O.B. THE WHOLE DOCK WAS FILLED WITH PARENTS AND WIVES OF THE DEAD. MANY OF THEM WERE HOLDING HAMMERS, CROWBARS AND FLASHLIGHTS. THEY REFUSED TO BELIEVE THAT THE MISSING MEN WERE GONE AND THEY WERE. PREPARED TO TAKE THE SHIP APART TO LOOK FOR THEIR BOYS. PART OF THE HORROR OF THE WHOLE THING IS THAT WE HAD TO WALK AROUND WITH THIS INSIDE ALL THIS TIME, BECAUSE WE WERE SWORN TO SECRECY. WE WERE TOLD NOT TO SPEAK TO ANYONE ABOUT THIS, NOT EVEN TO EACH OTHER. SHORTLY AFTER THE ATTACK WAS OVER, AN ISRAELI HELICOPTER ARRIVED AND WAS HOVERING OVER THE FORECASTLE OF THE SHIP. I WAS ON THE FORECASTLE WEARING HEADPHONES TO THE BRIDGE AND SEEING IF ANY OF THE CASUALTIES WERE ALIVE. THE HELICOPTER DROPPED A PAPER BAG WEIGHTED WITH AN ORANGE. I WENT OVER AND PICKED IT UP AND IT READ....HOW MANY CASUALTIES HAVE YOU?. I RELAYED THAT TO THE CAPTAIN AND HE TOLD ME TO TELL THEM TO GO TOHELL. 1 WAS TERRIFIED, BUT IT WAS AN ORDER FROM THE CAPTAIN SOI DID. I THOUGHT AT THAT MOMENT IT WAS OVER FOR ME. TO MY SURPRISE THEY LEFT AND DIDN’T RETURN. TILL THIS DAY, ANYTIME I'M OUTSIDE AND THERE ARE JETS OR HELICOPTERS PRESENT IN THE SKY, ITS FRIGHTENING AND VERY UPSETTING TO ME. 4. PURPLE HEART NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDAL COMBAT ACTION RIBBON: PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION RIBBON 5. YES AND YESWE HEARD THAT FOUR AMERICAN JETS WERE COMING TO OUR AID, BUT ‘THEY NEVER CAME. NOONE CAME. WE WERE COMPLETELY ON OUR OWN, SHARKS AND ALL. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DAY THAT THE U.S.S. DAVIS CAME. THE BADLY WOUNDED WERE TRANSFERRED BY CABLE BASKETS FROM OUR SHIP TO THEIRS. OTHERS WERE FLOWN BY HELICOPTER TO LAND HOSPITALS IN ITALY. ALL OF US WHO WERE NOT BADLY WOUNDED AND UNINJURED PERSONNEL WERE UP, WITHOUT SLEEP, FOR DAYS, ONLY RESTING A LITTLE HERE AND THERE. I DON’T REMEMBER IF IT WAS THAT DAY OR THE DAY AFTER THAT A SMALLER NAVAL VESSEL SHOWED UP AND WERE FOLLOWING BEHIND US IN ORDER TO RETRIEVE THE BODIES THAT WERE COMING OUT OF THE TORPEDO HOLE. NAVY FROGMEN ARRIVED AND SECURED A TARP IN PLACE OVER THE TORPEDO HOLE SO WE WOULD NOT CONTINUE TO LOSE OUR FALLEN SHIPMATES. DURING THE ATTACK WE BURNED OUT ONE OF OUR BOILERS TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE TORPEDOES. IT TOOK US 17DAYS TO LIMP TOMALTA. DURING THAT TIME, I HAD TO GO INTO MY REFER, OVER AND OVER, FOR FOOD SUPPLIES. THE SUPPLIES WERE ON MY RIGHT SIDE AND THE BODY BAGS WERE ON MY LEFT SIDE. THE TOTAL COUNT...34 DEAD, 171 WOUNDED.....OF A CREW OF 298. THE SMELL THROUGHOUT THE SHIP WAS HORRENDOUS. WE HAD NO A/C WORKING, SO YOU CAN JUST IMAGINE THE RESULTS OF BLOOD AND BODY PARTS EVERYWHERE IN THE JUNE HEAT. ISTAYED ABOARD THE LIBERTY THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE IN DRY DOCK(34 DAYS). I WATCHED AS THE BODIES WERE REMOVED FROM THE TORPEDO HOLE, AND BROUGHT ONTO THE DECK TO BE PUT IN BODY BAGS, ALL MARKED UNIDENTIFIABLE) DID YOU EVER SEE A BODY AFTER IT HAS BEEN FLOATING IN WATER FOR 17 DAYS. ALL THE BODILY GASES EXPAND IN WATER AFTER A WHILE CAUSING THE SKINTO SHARATE FROM THE BONES AND MUSCLE. i I WILL NEVER , EVER GET THIS HORRIBLE, UNJUSTIFIED AND BRUTAL ATTACK BY OUR ALLIES, OUT OF MY HEAD UNTIL I’M IN A BAG MYSELF. ‘THE REMAINING SHIPMATES AND MYSELF TOOK THE SHIP BACK TO. VIRGINIA. I WATCHED OUR XO, LT. CMDR. PHILLIP ARMSTRONG, DIE OF THE ATTACK. HE WAS WOUNDED BUT HE DIDN’T REALIZE HOW BAD HIS INJURIES WERE. HE DIED OF A RUPTURED SPLEEN. CAPTAIN MCGONAGLE WAS ALSO WOUNDED BUT REFUSED TO LEAVE THE BRIDGE FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT. HIS WOUNDS WERE OF HIS LEGS, SO HE STAYED ON THE BRIDGE. [BROUGHT HMB A PITCHER OF ORANGE.6. NOT APPLICABLE 7.1 HAVE NO PATIENCE, [ HAVE A LOT OF ANGER. I EITHER HAVE OUTBURST ORI KEEP MY ANGER INSIDE. SUDDEN OUTBURSTS SEEM TO BE MORE COMMON. I TAKE OUT MY ANGER ON MY WIFE, WHO I LOVE ‘VERY MUCH, AND I DON’T WANT TO LOSE HER, TOO. I JUST CAN’T HELP IT SO PLEASE HELP ME BEFORE ITS TOO LATE. ICONSTANTLY HAVE NIGHTMARES OF BEING ATTACKED WITH NOWHERE TO RUN AND IF IDO TRY TO RUN MY LEGS WON'T MOVE. ITS AS IF THEY WEIGHED A TON. I HAVE USED A LOT OF ALCOHOL OVER THE YEARS TO TRY TO DROWN OUT THE NIGHTMARES. T'VELOST ALOT OF TIME FROM WORK BEING UNABLE TO FACE THE DAY. I RUINED MY FIRST MARRIAGE AND MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY SON DUE TO ALCOHOL ABUSE. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE LAST LIBERTY VETERANS’ REUNION, AFTER TALKING TO SHIPMATES THAT I FOUND OUT A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT PTSD. MY SHIPMATES WERE TELLING ME HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR ME TO GET THE HELP I NEED FOR THIS ANGER, ANGUISH AND NIGHTMARES BECAUSE THEY WERE THERE TOO. TILL THIS DAY THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL WISHES THAT THE LIBERTY VETERANS WOULD JUST GO AWAY. I SAW THE FACES OF THE DEAD MEN EVERY DAY WHEN THEY CAME THRU MY CHOW LINE, AND THEN THEY WERE GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. I'M ALWAYS LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDERS BECAUSE IT WON’T SURPRISE ME IF THE ISRAELIS TOOK ME OUT BECAUSE OF MY KNOWING WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. LOUD NOISES SUCH AS CARS OR TRUCKS BACKFIRING MAKE ME WANT TO JUMP OUT OF MY SKIN. IF MY COUNTRY ASKED ME TO HELP DEFEND IT, I WOULD IN A HEART BEAT. I'MA PROUD PATRIOT. I HAVE FORGIVENESS IN MY HEART AND SOUL, BUT I NEED PEACE OF MIND. IDREAD GOING TO SLEEP AT NIGHT BECAUSE OF THE NIGHTMARES. I DREAD GETTING UP IN THE MORNING TO FACE ANOTHER DAY OF TORMENT AND FRUSTRATION. I WISH IT WOULD ALL JUST GO AWAY.HAVE FEW FRIENDS AND DON’T GO OUT MUCH. I USUALLY DO THINGS THAT I CAN DO ALONE. 8.THERE WAS NO HELP BECAUSE OF BEING SWORN TO SECRECY AND UNTIL RECENTLY I HAVE NOT FACED MY PROBLEMS.