March 22, 2006 To Whom It May Concern: ‘Asa member of the regular Navy I was assigned to the USS Liberty, AGTRS. My rate was a Third Class Communications Technician R Branch (CT3R), Petty Officer. My responsibilities as a Morse Code operator was to intercept communications. My work location was in the research spaces below decks. ‘On June 8, 1967 a fellow shipmate and I were assigned the task of cleaning the very sensitive Tresscom Basket that was on the Aft part of the ship. This was used to transmit information via the moon to NSA. On that morning we witnessed a box car airplane fly over several times at a very low altitude with the bottom open and camera’s hanging out of the bottom of the plane. They made several runs by our ship during a 2 or 3 hr span. ‘They were low enough to wave at. The plane was unmarked and we were sitting several miles off the coast in International Waters. We did notice that our flag was flying and they had to know we were an American ship. After lunch a routine General Quarters was held and then many of us were on the aft deck getting ready to sunbath. At approx 2:00pm I heard gun fire and then the passing of two jets that were firing on the ship. One approached directly fiom the sun so no one could see it and the other came across the bridge of the ship. Its first strafe was using anti- personnel weapons to kill people above decks. I was standing at the rear entrance to our CT quarters when the attack happened. General Quarters were sounded and I ran quickly to my GQ location in the lower research spaces where I took my position at my receiver. During the strafing of the jets we heard the shots, then we started hearing and noticing that they were using armored piercing and bullets were coming into our spaces. This was their second phase to kill all who had gone indoors for cover. The shots stopped for a period of several minutes and then the Capitan came over the intercom and told us to prepare for Torpedo attack. I remember wrapping my arms around a table let and then the massive flash and explosion hit us. I remember the flash, the noise, and then falling, thinking the deck below me had been blown away. This was not the case as I was blown to the ceiling and the water coming in broke my fall. The Torpedo blew out the Starboard side of the ship took out the inner walls surrounding the ladder to exit, and then blew holes in the Port side of the ship. Approx 25 of us were able to escape via the ladder and through the hatch. The other 25 in our space were killed instantly. In departing the spaces the smoke was intense in the passage ways until we got to the upper deck near the bridge. USS LIBERTY VETERANS ASSOCIATION CIO Moe Shafer, 4994 Lower Roswell Road, #33 Marietta, GA. 30068Once on the forward deck I noticed that the bridge was in total flames/smoke and the Capitan was leaning over the rail asking for help to put out the fires on the bridge. A few of the men went up the ladders to assist. Ina short time a helicopter hovered over the forward part of the ship with guns hanging out the doors, however there was no gun fire, saw a shipmate lying on the deck with a major gun shot to the head and I picked him up and took him to the mess decks where I remained for the next 16 or so hours assisting the ‘wounded as I was directed by the medical saff, which was few. I witnessed Lt. Armstrong passing away, and witnessed many other major major injuries to my shipmates. During this time period the Capiain had informed us to be prepared to abandon ship, and it is during that time that our life rafts were jettisoned over this side of the ship and the Israeli Torpedo boats shot these out of the water. I did not witness this; however it was talked about on the ship. spent the whole night in the mess decks helping the injured, not even knowing that I had any significant injuries. Once I went to the upper deck in the moming I sat down and realized that I had a knee injury (not serious) and that it was determined that Thad a ‘major concussion because I was blown into the ceiling of pipes, etc. in the research spaces when the Torpedo hit. I was then flown off via helicopter to the Little Rock which was the Flag Ship of the Sixth Fleet. Admiral Martin was the Commandant of the Sixth Fleet. Once in the hospital on his ship he came to our spaces where their were 5 of us injured on his ship. The admiral sat on my ved and informed me that one aircraft carrier launched planes with conventional weapons to come and assist the USS Liberty. He also stated that another carrier launched planes with Nuclear Weapons headed directly to Cairo, Egypt and directed to attack. He stated that the USS Liberty had gotten a message out on the one antenna that the Israeli’s did not destroy and stated that we were under attack, and believed to be Egypt. ‘We got one message back that help was on the way, and that is when the planes were aunched from the carriers. Once Israel picked up our planes on radar they realized that we had made contact and that they had been caught. Israel in tum contacted President Johnson and said that they had mistakenly attacked the USS Liberty. Their only intent was to have the USS Liberty sink, be missirg, and then we would have finished the job for them. After the attack the ship headed to Mallta under escort and the ship was dry docked there. ‘The day the ship pulled into Malta I was flown there and got back on the ship. Once in dry dock the water was let out of the ship ard then the camage really started with going into the research spaces and getting out the 25 shipmates who had not survived the Torpedo attack. Volunteers were asked to stay with the ship and 9 of us CT’s stayed with the ship during the month at Malta. During this month the CT’s had the responsibility of getting the bodies out of the spaces and during this clean up which took over a week we continued to find body parts in the air condition ducts, the electronic equipment, etc. No ‘human can imagine what effect this had on those of us who stayed, ‘USS LIBERTY VETERANS ASSOCIATION (C/O Moe Shafer, 4994 Lower Roswell Road, #33 Marietta, GA 30068During our stay in Malta a board of inquiry was held and I had no part in this. I did have the experience of Admiral Kidd telling us to forget everything that happened. We were instructed that we could not talk about the attack and if we did we would be in major trouble. That was the major beginning of the cover up in our eyes. The big part of the cover up was already under way in Washington. I swear the above is true and accurate as I commit these facts to paper on March 23, 2006 Respectfully submitted, Maurice B. Shafer, CTR3 USS Liberty Survivor Treasurer USS Liberty Veterans Association ‘USS LIBERTY VETERANS ASSOCIATION C/O Moe Shafer, 4994 Lower Roswell Road, #33, Marieta, GA 30068 a alec lial