The true story of the Israeli attack on an American intelligence ship
By James M. Ennes, Jr. (Fourth edition, Raintree, 2013)
Reviewed by Brian R. Wright

This is the second full book[1] I’ve read since coming into the fray of justice for the USS Liberty—justice (and recognition) for its victims and justice (and retribution) for its perpetrators—only recently. [I became aware in March or April of this year, 2017, that the 50th anniversary of the deliberate, unprovoked attack on the ship by the Israeli armed forces on June 8, 1967 was coming right up. I kicked myself for never adequately paying attention to the reality of this horrific war crime against American servicemen and resolved to catch up and pitch in to the cause.]

I’ve gotten to the point of having actually made a presentation to my local Oakland County, Michi-gan, Campaign for Liberty group. Video here courtesy John Irvine productions. [The online pdf of the presentation from which you may derive many useful links for further research is located here.] Further, from June 8-10, 2017, I attended the 50th anniversary event in Norfolk, Virginia, meeting several of the survivors and other supporters. I am working on a followup presentation to the C4L group, on that event, to which I shall provide links, when finished.

Assault is the first and, arguably, the most authoritative of the books on what happened that fateful day. The Liberty was an intelligence gathering ship, with a crew of 294 total, of which a major portion was devoted to secret or at least confidential intelligence work, mainly communications. Ennes was higher-level officer on the intelligence side, who had important line responsibilities for ship personnel and navigation. He was seriously injured during the initial strafing of the Liberty, and drew most of his information from extensive interviews with officers and crew, also from research with official agencies, libraries, and other public sources. Continue reading →