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Survivors press committee for study of 1967 USS Liberty attack; lawmakers weigh forming review panel
Summary
Survivors of the USS Liberty and several state representatives urged the committee to establish HB 256, a study committee to examine the federal government's response to the June 8, 1967 attack. Several survivors testified at length about their experiences and said they seek fuller public answers.
Representative Sabourne Deschwaniere introduced HB 256 to create a committee to study the federal government's response to the 1967 attack on the USS Liberty. The proposal would appoint a small panel of four House members, one senator, and a public member to investigate whether the U.S. government adequately determined culpability for the attack.
Multiple survivors and family members of crew described detailed, often harrowing accounts of the attack during the committee hearing. Tom Olin, who served aboard the USS Liberty, recounted strafing, napalm attacks, and heavy shipboard damage and criticized follow-up investigations as rushed and censored. "Admiral Kidd told me after returning from Washington D.C. that he had been ordered to put the lid on everything," Olin said. Another survivor, who identified himself as Michael (LeMay), described being wounded, evacuated, and subsequently constrained from speaking for many years; he said, "I've never once been officially asked by any government what I saw that day." Survivors testified they want an official forum to gather eyewitness testimony while veterans are alive.
Representative Jonah Wheeler and former Representative Jason Gerhardt — who shepherded earlier versions of related measures — argued the state has a role as a forum for oversight and historical inquiry. Witnesses and some members said declassified records remain subject to classification and that a state-level committee could compile evidence and press for federal release.
Committee members asked whether prior federal inquiries had been thorough; testimony from former Navy counsel and survivors alleged investigatory shortcomings, fast timelines, and interference. Supporters said the proposed committee would interview surviving crew and seek documentary evidence; opponents and some members raised concerns about legal and diplomatic consequences, gag orders, and the limits of a state committee’s authority to declassify federal records.
Why it matters: The proposal seeks to assemble surviving witnesses and documentation on a decades-old event that some survivors and advocates say has unresolved questions about U.S. investigative conduct; supporters argued time is pressing as survivors age.
