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Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo
In 1968, a small, dilapidated American spy ship set out on a dangerous mission: to pinpoint military radar stations along the coast of North Korea. Packed with advanced electronic-surveillance equipment and classified intelligence documents, the USS Pueblo was poorly armed and lacked backup by air or sea. Its crew, led by a charismatic, hard-drinking ex-submarine officer named Pete Bucher, was made up mostly of untested sailors in their teens and twenties.
On a frigid January morning while eavesdropping near the port of Wonsan, the Pueblo was challenged by a North Korean gunboat. When Bucher tried to escape, his ship was quickly surrounded by more patrol boats, shelled and machine-gunned, and forced to surrender. One American was killed and ten wounded, and Bucher and his young crew were taken prisoner by one of the world’s most aggressive and erratic totalitarian regimes.
Less than forty-eight hours before the Pueblo’s capture, North Korean commandos had nearly succeeded in assassinating South Korea’s president in downtown Seoul. Together, the two explosive incidents pushed Cold War tensions toward a flashpoint as both North and South Korea girded for war—with fifty thousand American soldiers caught between them. President Lyndon Johnson rushed U.S. combat ships and aircraft to reinforce South Korea, while secretly trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Act of War tells the riveting saga of Bucher and his men as they struggled to survive merciless torture and horrendous living conditions in North Korean prisons. Based on extensive interviews and numerous government documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, this book also reveals new details of Johnson’s high-risk gambit to prevent war from erupting on the Korean peninsula while his negotiators desperately tried to save the sailors from possible execution. A dramatic tale of human endurance against the backdrop of an international diplomatic poker game, Act of War offers lessons on the perils of covert intelligence operations as America finds itself confronting a host of twenty-first-century enemies.
On a frigid January morning while eavesdropping near the port of Wonsan, the Pueblo was challenged by a North Korean gunboat. When Bucher tried to escape, his ship was quickly surrounded by more patrol boats, shelled and machine-gunned, and forced to surrender. One American was killed and ten wounded, and Bucher and his young crew were taken prisoner by one of the world’s most aggressive and erratic totalitarian regimes.
Less than forty-eight hours before the Pueblo’s capture, North Korean commandos had nearly succeeded in assassinating South Korea’s president in downtown Seoul. Together, the two explosive incidents pushed Cold War tensions toward a flashpoint as both North and South Korea girded for war—with fifty thousand American soldiers caught between them. President Lyndon Johnson rushed U.S. combat ships and aircraft to reinforce South Korea, while secretly trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Act of War tells the riveting saga of Bucher and his men as they struggled to survive merciless torture and horrendous living conditions in North Korean prisons. Based on extensive interviews and numerous government documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, this book also reveals new details of Johnson’s high-risk gambit to prevent war from erupting on the Korean peninsula while his negotiators desperately tried to save the sailors from possible execution. A dramatic tale of human endurance against the backdrop of an international diplomatic poker game, Act of War offers lessons on the perils of covert intelligence operations as America finds itself confronting a host of twenty-first-century enemies.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published September 11, 2013
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1082 people want to read
About the author
Jack Cheevers
3 books17 followersJack Cheevers is an author and former Los Angeles Times political reporter. Contact him at jscheevers@gmail.com. Jack grew up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in political science. For 27 years he was a reporter and editor at the Los Angeles Times and other California newspapers. "Kennedy's Coup" is his second book. He began researching it in 2015, interviewing eyewitnesses and filing scores of freedom of information requests. Those requests yielded about 1,100 pages of classified documents from the CIA, State Department, and National Security Agency, and significantly expanded what is known about the Kennedy Administration's covert encouragement of the disastrous military coup against South Vietnam's president, Ngo Dinh Diem, in 1963.
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February 14, 2015
Recent events between the United States and North Korea cast a long shadow over relations between these countries. The “supposed” computer hacking of Sony pictures by North Korea, the disagreement over North Korean attempts to develop nuclear weapons, and a host of other issues like North Korean attacks against South Korean ships makes the appearance of Jack Cheevers’ ACT OF WAR rather timely. Cheevers, a former political reporter for the Los Angeles Times presents a comprehensive study of the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo, an American spy ship trolling international waters in January, 1968. Today we worry about North Korean threats to South Korea and Japan, but in the 1960s the United States was in the midst of the Cold War and only a decade out from the end of the Korean War. Embroiled in Vietnam, the United States continued to spy on the Soviet Union, Communist China, and North Korea throughout the period. One might wonder why the North Koreans would seize an American ship at that time. The answer probably rests with North Korean dictator, Kim Il-Sung’s hatred for the United States, and when presented an opportunity to give Washington a “black eye,” Kim could not resist, especially with the United States caught up in the quagmire of Vietnam.
According to Cheevers, American loses while spying in the region were not uncommon before the Pueblo was seized. Between 1950 and 1956, seven American reconnaissance aircraft were shot down over the Sea of Japan or near Siberia, resulting in the loss of forty-six US airmen, with another sixteen lost to a typhoon. (2) The Pueblo was part of a top secret Navy program to pack refurbished US freighters with advanced electronics to keep tabs on the Soviet Union’s expanding Pacific and Mediterranean fleets. The program called for seventy ships, but only three were built, one of which was the Pueblo. The loss of the ship with its sophisticated surveillance gear, code machines, and documents was one of the worst intelligence debacles in American history. Subsequent congressional and naval investigations revealed “appalling complacency and short sightedness in the planning and execution of the Pueblo mission.” (3) The goal was to determine how much of a threat existed for South Korea, since North Korea’s Stalinist leaders were committed to unifying the peninsula, an area were 55,000 American troops stood in the way of a possible invasion. This book is important as we continue to unleash covert operations worldwide, as it shows what can happen when things do not proceed as planned.
Cheevers offers a detailed description of the planning of the mission and what emerges is that Captain Lloyd Bucher was given command of a ship that was not in the best condition and was overloaded with top secret documents, many of which were not needed for the mission. A full description of the seizure of the ship, the incarceration of the crew, their torture and interrogation, their final release, and the Naval and Congressional investigations that’s followed are presented. The ship was supposedly conducting “oceanic research,” and many of the crew were not fully cognizant of the Pueblo’s spy mission. What separates Cheevers’ work from previous books on the subject is his access to new documentation, particularly those of the Soviet Union, and American naval archives. Further, he was able to interview a large number of the Pueblo’s original crew. This leads to a narrative that at times reads like a transcript or movie script of many important scenes, particularly the North Korean seizure of the ship, the interactions of the crew during their imprisonment, and the Navy Court of Inquiry which was formed to determine if Capt. Bucher and his crew had conducted themselves appropriately.
The first surprising aspect of the book is the lack of training the crew experienced, and how they should respond if attacked. Bucher was told by naval officials not to worry because he would always remain in international waters beyond the twelve mile limit the North Koreans claimed. Further, Bucher was not given the appropriate equipment to destroy sensitive documents and equipment, even though he requested it. In addition, the two linguists assigned to the mission hadn’t spoken Korean in a few years and confessed that they needed dictionaries to translate radio intercepts or documents, and in addition, the overall crew was very inexperienced. The bottom line is that there was no real contingency plan to assist the Pueblo should North Korea become a problem. It was clear no naval assistance would be forthcoming in the event of an attack, and Bucher would be on his own. Once the attack occurred it appears Bucher did his best, knowing the United States would not entertain a rescue operation.
The seizure of the ship compounded problems for the Johnson administration. The Tet offensive was a few weeks away, the Marine fire base at Ke Sanh was isolated, the anti-war movement in the United States was growing, and the South Korean President, Park Chung Hee wanted to use the situation to launch an attack on North Korea. Cheevers reviews the mindset of the American government as well as the public’s reaction to the seizure and accurately describes President Johnson’s reluctance to take military action. The United States did deploy battle groups to the Sea of Japan as a show of force, but with no plan to use it, it was a hollow gesture. A far bigger problem was reigning in President Park, whose palace was almost breached by North Korean commandos shortly before the Pueblo was seized. Cheevers’ dialogue between Cyrus Vance, Johnson’s emissary and Park is eye opening as was the meeting between Johnson and Park later in the crisis. If Park could not gain American acquiescence for a military response, he requested hundreds of millions of dollars of military hardware instead. There were 30,000 South Korean troops fighting in Vietnam, and Park had promised another 11,000, and Johnson wanted to make sure that Park did not renege on his commitment. Cheevers does a commendable job always placing the Pueblo crisis in the context of the war raging in Southeast Asia.
Cheevers’ absorbing description of how the Americans were treated in captivity is largely based on interviews of the crew. The brutality of their treatment and the psychological games their captures subjected Bucher and his crew was unconscionable. The beatings, outright torture, lack of hygiene and malnutrition the crew suffered through are catalogued in detail. The pressure on the Johnson administration domestically increased throughout the incarceration until a deal was finally reached. The issue revolved around the North Korean demand of an apology which was finally papered over by a convoluted strategy that produced a US admission of spying at the same time they offered a strong denial.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is Cheevers’ coverage of the hero’s welcome Bucher and his crew received and how the Navy investigated who was to blame for the ship’s seizure. The fact that Bucher surrendered his ship without a fight to save his crew did not sit well with naval history purists. For the Navy, the men were expendable, but the intelligence equipment and documents were not. The details of the Naval Court of Inquiry headed by five career admirals, three of which had commanded destroyers during World War II and the Korean War concluded that Bucher should be court-martialed, but were overruled because of public opinion. The questions and answers from the trial reflect how difficult a task it was to investigate the seizure and find a scapegoat for the Navy. Throughout, Bucher never lost the respect of his crew and his leadership allowed his men to bond, which in large part is responsible for their survival.
Cheevers should be commended for his approach to the crisis, the important questions he raises, and the reconstruction of testimony both Naval and Congressional. ACT OF WAR seems to me the definitive account of the seizure of the Pueblo and its ramifications for the Navy, the intelligence community, and politicians. It is an excellent historical narrative that reads like a novel in sections of the book. It is a great read and a superb work of investigative reporting.
According to Cheevers, American loses while spying in the region were not uncommon before the Pueblo was seized. Between 1950 and 1956, seven American reconnaissance aircraft were shot down over the Sea of Japan or near Siberia, resulting in the loss of forty-six US airmen, with another sixteen lost to a typhoon. (2) The Pueblo was part of a top secret Navy program to pack refurbished US freighters with advanced electronics to keep tabs on the Soviet Union’s expanding Pacific and Mediterranean fleets. The program called for seventy ships, but only three were built, one of which was the Pueblo. The loss of the ship with its sophisticated surveillance gear, code machines, and documents was one of the worst intelligence debacles in American history. Subsequent congressional and naval investigations revealed “appalling complacency and short sightedness in the planning and execution of the Pueblo mission.” (3) The goal was to determine how much of a threat existed for South Korea, since North Korea’s Stalinist leaders were committed to unifying the peninsula, an area were 55,000 American troops stood in the way of a possible invasion. This book is important as we continue to unleash covert operations worldwide, as it shows what can happen when things do not proceed as planned.
Cheevers offers a detailed description of the planning of the mission and what emerges is that Captain Lloyd Bucher was given command of a ship that was not in the best condition and was overloaded with top secret documents, many of which were not needed for the mission. A full description of the seizure of the ship, the incarceration of the crew, their torture and interrogation, their final release, and the Naval and Congressional investigations that’s followed are presented. The ship was supposedly conducting “oceanic research,” and many of the crew were not fully cognizant of the Pueblo’s spy mission. What separates Cheevers’ work from previous books on the subject is his access to new documentation, particularly those of the Soviet Union, and American naval archives. Further, he was able to interview a large number of the Pueblo’s original crew. This leads to a narrative that at times reads like a transcript or movie script of many important scenes, particularly the North Korean seizure of the ship, the interactions of the crew during their imprisonment, and the Navy Court of Inquiry which was formed to determine if Capt. Bucher and his crew had conducted themselves appropriately.
The first surprising aspect of the book is the lack of training the crew experienced, and how they should respond if attacked. Bucher was told by naval officials not to worry because he would always remain in international waters beyond the twelve mile limit the North Koreans claimed. Further, Bucher was not given the appropriate equipment to destroy sensitive documents and equipment, even though he requested it. In addition, the two linguists assigned to the mission hadn’t spoken Korean in a few years and confessed that they needed dictionaries to translate radio intercepts or documents, and in addition, the overall crew was very inexperienced. The bottom line is that there was no real contingency plan to assist the Pueblo should North Korea become a problem. It was clear no naval assistance would be forthcoming in the event of an attack, and Bucher would be on his own. Once the attack occurred it appears Bucher did his best, knowing the United States would not entertain a rescue operation.
The seizure of the ship compounded problems for the Johnson administration. The Tet offensive was a few weeks away, the Marine fire base at Ke Sanh was isolated, the anti-war movement in the United States was growing, and the South Korean President, Park Chung Hee wanted to use the situation to launch an attack on North Korea. Cheevers reviews the mindset of the American government as well as the public’s reaction to the seizure and accurately describes President Johnson’s reluctance to take military action. The United States did deploy battle groups to the Sea of Japan as a show of force, but with no plan to use it, it was a hollow gesture. A far bigger problem was reigning in President Park, whose palace was almost breached by North Korean commandos shortly before the Pueblo was seized. Cheevers’ dialogue between Cyrus Vance, Johnson’s emissary and Park is eye opening as was the meeting between Johnson and Park later in the crisis. If Park could not gain American acquiescence for a military response, he requested hundreds of millions of dollars of military hardware instead. There were 30,000 South Korean troops fighting in Vietnam, and Park had promised another 11,000, and Johnson wanted to make sure that Park did not renege on his commitment. Cheevers does a commendable job always placing the Pueblo crisis in the context of the war raging in Southeast Asia.
Cheevers’ absorbing description of how the Americans were treated in captivity is largely based on interviews of the crew. The brutality of their treatment and the psychological games their captures subjected Bucher and his crew was unconscionable. The beatings, outright torture, lack of hygiene and malnutrition the crew suffered through are catalogued in detail. The pressure on the Johnson administration domestically increased throughout the incarceration until a deal was finally reached. The issue revolved around the North Korean demand of an apology which was finally papered over by a convoluted strategy that produced a US admission of spying at the same time they offered a strong denial.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is Cheevers’ coverage of the hero’s welcome Bucher and his crew received and how the Navy investigated who was to blame for the ship’s seizure. The fact that Bucher surrendered his ship without a fight to save his crew did not sit well with naval history purists. For the Navy, the men were expendable, but the intelligence equipment and documents were not. The details of the Naval Court of Inquiry headed by five career admirals, three of which had commanded destroyers during World War II and the Korean War concluded that Bucher should be court-martialed, but were overruled because of public opinion. The questions and answers from the trial reflect how difficult a task it was to investigate the seizure and find a scapegoat for the Navy. Throughout, Bucher never lost the respect of his crew and his leadership allowed his men to bond, which in large part is responsible for their survival.
Cheevers should be commended for his approach to the crisis, the important questions he raises, and the reconstruction of testimony both Naval and Congressional. ACT OF WAR seems to me the definitive account of the seizure of the Pueblo and its ramifications for the Navy, the intelligence community, and politicians. It is an excellent historical narrative that reads like a novel in sections of the book. It is a great read and a superb work of investigative reporting.
August 16, 2016
This book provides me with solid proof that college professors teach to their own agenda, which I knew but, boy, does this support that. I wish I had read this earlier in my semester, so when my professor said, "The captives were treated really well until they brought it on themselves towards the end" I could have pointed out just how ridiculously biased he was. The book itself was interesting; the strongest sections were definitely those with the crew. The alternating sections describing the political situations were a bit scattered and the ending dragged on a bit too long.
September 18, 2014
On January 23, 1968 the USS Pueblo, a lightly armed diminutive spy ship was boarded by heavily armed North Korean military near Wonsan and the American crewmen taken prisoner. Jack Cheevers, a former Los Angeles Times political reporter, painstakingly and dramatically describes the seizure of the ship and crew and how close the United States came to becoming involved in a second Korean War. On January 21, 1968 North Korean commandos had attempted the assassination of the South Korean President. The USS Pueblo was never notified of this incident. The author had done meticulous research including tracking down survivors for their stories.
To avoid the potential war LBJ dispatched Cyrus R. Vance to South Korea to negotiate. Cheevers carefully tracks Vance’s delicate mission. For eleven months the Pueblo crew was regularly and savagely beaten, tortured and starved while negotiation to get them back was going on. Cheever’s reports that once freed the crew all suffered from a variety of mental and physical ailments. A Navy psychiatrist diagnosed some of the crew member with “Concentration Camp Syndrome”. (A disorders that afflicted survivors of Hitler’s death camps).
The last part of the book deals with the Navy’s inquiry of the incident. The Court of Inquiry ordered a court marshal of Cmdr. Lloyd “Pete” Bucher but the Secretary of the Navy dismissed it. Bucher and crew had to fight for their reputation the rest of their lives. Many years later, after a long fight by supporters, the crew was finally awarded the POW medal.
This book tells an important and almost forgotten incident of the Cold War. The book reads like a suspense military novel rather than a history book. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Jeffrey Kafer did an excellent job narrating the book.
To avoid the potential war LBJ dispatched Cyrus R. Vance to South Korea to negotiate. Cheevers carefully tracks Vance’s delicate mission. For eleven months the Pueblo crew was regularly and savagely beaten, tortured and starved while negotiation to get them back was going on. Cheever’s reports that once freed the crew all suffered from a variety of mental and physical ailments. A Navy psychiatrist diagnosed some of the crew member with “Concentration Camp Syndrome”. (A disorders that afflicted survivors of Hitler’s death camps).
The last part of the book deals with the Navy’s inquiry of the incident. The Court of Inquiry ordered a court marshal of Cmdr. Lloyd “Pete” Bucher but the Secretary of the Navy dismissed it. Bucher and crew had to fight for their reputation the rest of their lives. Many years later, after a long fight by supporters, the crew was finally awarded the POW medal.
This book tells an important and almost forgotten incident of the Cold War. The book reads like a suspense military novel rather than a history book. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Jeffrey Kafer did an excellent job narrating the book.
November 5, 2021
Act of War was probably my favorite read of the year thus far. It was certainly my favorite audio book. From start to finish there was never a dull moment and I found myself taking the dog for extra walks just so I could listen to the next chapter of this exciting thriller.
Act of War is about the botched spy mission that the USN Pueblo was sent on off the coast of North Korea in 1968. The ship was illegally fired upon, boarded, and captured as a prize by the North Koreans in international waters. This was a hair-brained, ill-conceived, fouled-up mission that was screwed up from the very top of the Department of the Navy. The unfortunate members of the crew were sent on a mission in an unseaworthy scow that could barely make 13 knots with nothing to defend herself but a cover story and a couple of 50 Cal machineguns and small arms.
The skipper of the Pueblo, Captain Bucher, was given conflicting instructions at the missions inception. Their cover story was that the Pueblo was an oceanographic vessel conducting research and they were told to stay in international waters. When pressed, Bucher really had little choice but to surrender. He couldn't outrun the N. Koreans because their ships were 4x faster than the Pueblo and he really couldn't hold them off with the 50's because they had cannon and were firing into the Pueblo like it was a sitting duck. The crew may have been able to ward off the boarding party but at that point they would have been sunk. It was January and there was little chance of anyone surviving in that water. If Bucher scuttled her, who knows if the peace loving people of North Korea would have bothered to pluck anyone out of the sea? With one sailor dead and several more wounded, and none of the promised help on the way, Bucher did the only thing he could do and stuck to his cover story that they were conducting oceanographic research (which was true). This resulted in the loss of the ship, an unprecedented loss of US intelligence, and a grueling captivity in the Hermit Kingdom for eighty something sailors.
The crew of the Pueblo was finally repatriated after the North Koreans coerced the crew into signing several phony confessions and after they received an insincere written apology from the United States. The crew was welcomed as heroes but soon after, the Navy held a board of inquiry with several admirals presiding. It started out at first like a fact-finding mission to avoid future mistakes but the Admirals were really bothered that Bucher allowed the ship to be boarded without putting up a fight. They said they would have felt differently if something like 15 sailors were dead but with only 1 sailor they could not abide. They felt that Bucher loved his crew too much. Shockingly, the Admirals recommended the court marshal of the ship's skipper. The author saw this as an attempt to make a scapegoat out of Bucher because the Navy was embarrassed. This really had me irritated. What was Bucher to do? The crew was hamstrung due to cost cutting. The Navy loaded the ship down with classified documents and Bucher had no way to destroy them. Bucher made several requests for something like thermite grenades to destroy the equipment and the documents but this was denied. He asked for training for evasive action etc. but this was also denied. Why? Because most of the Navy thought it was just a research vessel. It seems that the cover story only helped to deny Bucher's crew training and certain equipment. The Navy wanted to mount a gun on the ship but Bucher balked because the tiny vessel was so unseaworthy, his officers thought she might capsize if they fired it. Bucher was told that if attacked, retribution would be immediate but in the ends no planes ever came to her aid. Lastly, LBJ passed on orders not to start an incident because the United States had her hands full in Viet Nam. It was an ill-conceived mission on a shoe-string budget. This was a recipe for disaster.
As a result of their capture, the detainees endured a grueling captivity by the North Koreans. Didn't they suffer enough? The crew faced endless beatings, interrogations, reeducation, and malnutrition. They found some really interesting and often humorous ways to passively resist their captors. They would often pose for photos with their middle fingers pointing at the camera saying that it was the Hawaiian good luck sign and one sailor who had confessed to spying said he had been trained by Maxwell Smart. During the reeducation sessions, the lowest rated seamen frustrated their captors by calmly out-debating them. They would tell them that they had good cars in their garages and jobs waiting for them once they had returned home. The Koreans thought that that couldn't be true and they didn't know what to say.
In the end the Navy did the right thing and decided to not prefer charges against the crew and their Captain. Instead, some strings were pulled and eventually, the entire crew was given a POW medal.
Money was raised so that anyone who wanted to was able to travel to San Diego and attend the ceremony. Also, Captain Bucher was allowed to stay in the Navy and retire at a time of his own choosing even though the ghost of the Pueblo still haunted him. In the end the crew was treated fairly and with some bitterness, the story was over.
The Pueblo never returned home, however. The ship is now a museum ship in N. Korea. They Koreans use this for propaganda purposes. One of the Korean officers told a visitor who was an expatriate to tell the men of the Pueblo that they are taking good care of their vessel and it is an honor to do so.
Act of War is about the botched spy mission that the USN Pueblo was sent on off the coast of North Korea in 1968. The ship was illegally fired upon, boarded, and captured as a prize by the North Koreans in international waters. This was a hair-brained, ill-conceived, fouled-up mission that was screwed up from the very top of the Department of the Navy. The unfortunate members of the crew were sent on a mission in an unseaworthy scow that could barely make 13 knots with nothing to defend herself but a cover story and a couple of 50 Cal machineguns and small arms.
The skipper of the Pueblo, Captain Bucher, was given conflicting instructions at the missions inception. Their cover story was that the Pueblo was an oceanographic vessel conducting research and they were told to stay in international waters. When pressed, Bucher really had little choice but to surrender. He couldn't outrun the N. Koreans because their ships were 4x faster than the Pueblo and he really couldn't hold them off with the 50's because they had cannon and were firing into the Pueblo like it was a sitting duck. The crew may have been able to ward off the boarding party but at that point they would have been sunk. It was January and there was little chance of anyone surviving in that water. If Bucher scuttled her, who knows if the peace loving people of North Korea would have bothered to pluck anyone out of the sea? With one sailor dead and several more wounded, and none of the promised help on the way, Bucher did the only thing he could do and stuck to his cover story that they were conducting oceanographic research (which was true). This resulted in the loss of the ship, an unprecedented loss of US intelligence, and a grueling captivity in the Hermit Kingdom for eighty something sailors.
The crew of the Pueblo was finally repatriated after the North Koreans coerced the crew into signing several phony confessions and after they received an insincere written apology from the United States. The crew was welcomed as heroes but soon after, the Navy held a board of inquiry with several admirals presiding. It started out at first like a fact-finding mission to avoid future mistakes but the Admirals were really bothered that Bucher allowed the ship to be boarded without putting up a fight. They said they would have felt differently if something like 15 sailors were dead but with only 1 sailor they could not abide. They felt that Bucher loved his crew too much. Shockingly, the Admirals recommended the court marshal of the ship's skipper. The author saw this as an attempt to make a scapegoat out of Bucher because the Navy was embarrassed. This really had me irritated. What was Bucher to do? The crew was hamstrung due to cost cutting. The Navy loaded the ship down with classified documents and Bucher had no way to destroy them. Bucher made several requests for something like thermite grenades to destroy the equipment and the documents but this was denied. He asked for training for evasive action etc. but this was also denied. Why? Because most of the Navy thought it was just a research vessel. It seems that the cover story only helped to deny Bucher's crew training and certain equipment. The Navy wanted to mount a gun on the ship but Bucher balked because the tiny vessel was so unseaworthy, his officers thought she might capsize if they fired it. Bucher was told that if attacked, retribution would be immediate but in the ends no planes ever came to her aid. Lastly, LBJ passed on orders not to start an incident because the United States had her hands full in Viet Nam. It was an ill-conceived mission on a shoe-string budget. This was a recipe for disaster.
As a result of their capture, the detainees endured a grueling captivity by the North Koreans. Didn't they suffer enough? The crew faced endless beatings, interrogations, reeducation, and malnutrition. They found some really interesting and often humorous ways to passively resist their captors. They would often pose for photos with their middle fingers pointing at the camera saying that it was the Hawaiian good luck sign and one sailor who had confessed to spying said he had been trained by Maxwell Smart. During the reeducation sessions, the lowest rated seamen frustrated their captors by calmly out-debating them. They would tell them that they had good cars in their garages and jobs waiting for them once they had returned home. The Koreans thought that that couldn't be true and they didn't know what to say.
In the end the Navy did the right thing and decided to not prefer charges against the crew and their Captain. Instead, some strings were pulled and eventually, the entire crew was given a POW medal.
Money was raised so that anyone who wanted to was able to travel to San Diego and attend the ceremony. Also, Captain Bucher was allowed to stay in the Navy and retire at a time of his own choosing even though the ghost of the Pueblo still haunted him. In the end the crew was treated fairly and with some bitterness, the story was over.
The Pueblo never returned home, however. The ship is now a museum ship in N. Korea. They Koreans use this for propaganda purposes. One of the Korean officers told a visitor who was an expatriate to tell the men of the Pueblo that they are taking good care of their vessel and it is an honor to do so.
November 3, 2013
“ Act of War; Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and The Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo” by Jack Cheevers is a well-written account of the courage of 83 men whose capture was an embarrassment for the United States and particularly the U.S. Navy. The eighty-three brave members of the crew were ill-prepared for attack in international waters by a rogue nation, yet they had been sent to spy on that very nation. Their ship was not properly equipped for such a mission and requests to improve the equipment were denied. These men were abandoned by their country to capture by North Korea. There they became pawns in diplomatic wrangling, as their captors starved and tortured them.
Their courage as they endured is only part of the story told in this book. The attempts to punish them for losing their ship after their return to the states are disgraceful. The military and the bureaucracy argued that 18th century naval standards of civilized behavior should apply to the suffering inflicted by the uncivilized behavior of a brutal regime in the 20th century.
To write this book, Cheevers faced a lengthy struggle to gather information from people who would prefer that such information be forgotten. This is a valuable work and should serve as a stark reminder that we owe it to the people we send into harm’s way to protect them. Although it is historically referenced as an incident, the seizure of the Pueblo was clearly an act of war perpetrated by a country that remains hostile to the United States today.
Their courage as they endured is only part of the story told in this book. The attempts to punish them for losing their ship after their return to the states are disgraceful. The military and the bureaucracy argued that 18th century naval standards of civilized behavior should apply to the suffering inflicted by the uncivilized behavior of a brutal regime in the 20th century.
To write this book, Cheevers faced a lengthy struggle to gather information from people who would prefer that such information be forgotten. This is a valuable work and should serve as a stark reminder that we owe it to the people we send into harm’s way to protect them. Although it is historically referenced as an incident, the seizure of the Pueblo was clearly an act of war perpetrated by a country that remains hostile to the United States today.
February 5, 2014
Great book... clears up a lot of "bad" history about what happened to the captain and crew of the USS Pueblo that had been captured by the North Koreans in January 1968. The author has really done his homework and researched the facts as best as he could putting a whole new perspective on what really happened at the time of capture, while being held as prisoners by the North Koreans, and the Court of Inquiry once the crew was released.
December 31, 2013
Cheevers brings to life a fascinating chapter in American history, one that was perhaps partially obscured by the panoply of events that happened in the same years. This book reads like a great spy novel, except it is better because it actually happened!
March 1, 2014
I was just in third grade when this happened and vaguely recall the whole drama, but have been aware that there was some sub-current of controversy over the incident. Was Bucher derelict? Or was he a scapegoat? Did he do the best he could under the circumstances, or was he too quick to give up the ship?
A lot of the old Navy hands it seems, come down hard on Bucher for surrendering the ship. Plain old everyday people (me among them) have no issue with NOT trying to use small arms and a couple of frozen deck mounted machine guns to attempt fighting off a flotilla of PT boats, a sub hunter that's shooting rockets, and two MIG fighter jets.
Once they were taken prisoner, he and the others endured months of hell while his government, afraid of pissing off the Russians (who we were already more or less fighting in Vietnam) basically sat around and twiddled it's collective thumb. Then when they're finally freed, the navy basically put Bucher through the wringer at the Board of Inquiry which recommended court martials for him and a few others. Thankfully, the defense secretary shot that down, but the pattern was set.
The fact that it literally took an act of congress to get the Pueblo crew POW medals over 25 years later says all that needs to be said about the Navy's attitude with the incident. The admirals that made the decisions to send an under-equipped ship into a situation they had clear warning could be suicide - they kept their fancy desk jobs all the while Bucher and his crew were being tortured by the north koreans and shit on by the Navy.
Yeah, this book pissed me off a bit.
A lot of the old Navy hands it seems, come down hard on Bucher for surrendering the ship. Plain old everyday people (me among them) have no issue with NOT trying to use small arms and a couple of frozen deck mounted machine guns to attempt fighting off a flotilla of PT boats, a sub hunter that's shooting rockets, and two MIG fighter jets.
Once they were taken prisoner, he and the others endured months of hell while his government, afraid of pissing off the Russians (who we were already more or less fighting in Vietnam) basically sat around and twiddled it's collective thumb. Then when they're finally freed, the navy basically put Bucher through the wringer at the Board of Inquiry which recommended court martials for him and a few others. Thankfully, the defense secretary shot that down, but the pattern was set.
The fact that it literally took an act of congress to get the Pueblo crew POW medals over 25 years later says all that needs to be said about the Navy's attitude with the incident. The admirals that made the decisions to send an under-equipped ship into a situation they had clear warning could be suicide - they kept their fancy desk jobs all the while Bucher and his crew were being tortured by the north koreans and shit on by the Navy.
Yeah, this book pissed me off a bit.
November 29, 2013
Jack Cheevers focuses on a forgotten moment in the United States history focused on the USS Pueblo that was seized by North Korea while on a routine spy mission. In the lead up to the Vietnam War the Navy began outfitting fishing trawlers as spy ships and sending them to listen to the radio transmissions off the coast of foreign powers like China and the Soviet Union. IN addition to these communist adversaries the former enemy of North Korea was also trialed. The ships were told to stay well into international waters and the fear of reprisal on communist spy ships kept them safe. Cheevers picks up the story of one of these fishing boats whose maiden voyage was to listen to North Korea’s radio transmissions. In addition to virtually no armaments beyond small guns and two mounted machine guns the Pueblo was loaded down with classified material and not nearly enough capacity to destroy it should the enemy engage and seize the ship.
Naturally like all “perfectly” planned military missions reality gets in the way and the North Koreans send out a sizable flotilla that overpowers the Pueblo. What makes the case so shocking to the United States is that the commander of the Pueblo choose to surrender the ship without putting up a significant fights (beyond trying to flee) and saved the lives of his crewmen in doing so. The ship is driven into a North Korean port where the men are held in a torture camp as prisoners of war and threatened with their lives to sign confession. Eventually false confessions are signed and an international standoff occurs for the administration of LBJ.
Cheevers does an excellent job of balancing the plight of the captives with significant and gory details to the political ramifications of the administration in trying to free them. The book details what happened to these men and the effects it had on them after the fact. This includes the court of inquiry trial regarding the Pueblo and the eventual awarding of POW medals to the crew. Overall the book is well written and covers an incident that is largely forgotten about in American history.
Naturally like all “perfectly” planned military missions reality gets in the way and the North Koreans send out a sizable flotilla that overpowers the Pueblo. What makes the case so shocking to the United States is that the commander of the Pueblo choose to surrender the ship without putting up a significant fights (beyond trying to flee) and saved the lives of his crewmen in doing so. The ship is driven into a North Korean port where the men are held in a torture camp as prisoners of war and threatened with their lives to sign confession. Eventually false confessions are signed and an international standoff occurs for the administration of LBJ.
Cheevers does an excellent job of balancing the plight of the captives with significant and gory details to the political ramifications of the administration in trying to free them. The book details what happened to these men and the effects it had on them after the fact. This includes the court of inquiry trial regarding the Pueblo and the eventual awarding of POW medals to the crew. Overall the book is well written and covers an incident that is largely forgotten about in American history.
September 30, 2016
I'm a sucker for anything to do with North Korea, and this story of the USS Pueblo, a spy ship that the Koreans attacked and confiscated from international waters in February 1968. The ship was woefully unprepared for the fallout of a possible capture; also, the Navy was completely unprepared for an international waters attack and capture and it took almost a year to get the crew--82 soldiers and 1 corpse--home. This is the story of Captain Pete Bucher, his time with the Navy, and the details of his experience as a detainee in a North Korean prison (it rivals anything you would read in "Unbroken"). Cheevers has interviewed many other crewmen, and had access to a lot of previously classified documents under the Freedom of Information Act, and overall I feel he gave a fairly balanced account, both from Bucher's perspective, and that of the Navy (to be honest, though, I side with Bucher in every single point). I got emotional several times as I learned about the physical and psychological torture that the Americans endured at the hands of their North Korean interrogators. Because, technically, the nations were not at war with each other, the soldiers were not classified as POWs, they were...? It's still murky, actually. The United States was fighting in Vietnam and losing both the actual battles and the publicity war in worldwide newspapers, both LBJ and Nixon struggled to figure out how to a) bring these men home, and b) what to do with them at that point. Gaaah. Such a well-written book!
May 18, 2016
This might seem like just a history book, but this is ultimately a book on leadership. The leadership of Bucher and his subordinates to encourage his men to get through a Hell on Earth, and a failure of the Navy's top brass for getting their men into the mess and then trying to blame Bucher.
The Navy needs more leaders like Commander Lloyd Pete Bucher, who would rather save his crew than send them to slaughter to appeal to the Admiralty's borderline bloodthirsty ego of never giving up a ship, even if it was given virtually no weapons, no protection, and orders not to incite conflict with hostile forces.
You can't look at an online discussion on USS Pueblo without seeing Armchair Admirals and Chicken Hawk sabre rattlers shitblasting the late captain for not ordering his boys to man the three .50 cals that were not only frozen under tarps but not even within range of the North Koreans. If you honestly read this book from front to cover and your biggest takeaway is a sense of dishonour from Bucher not needlessly sacrificing his own men, then I hope to Christ almighty that you never get a leadership position
The Navy needs more leaders like Commander Lloyd Pete Bucher, who would rather save his crew than send them to slaughter to appeal to the Admiralty's borderline bloodthirsty ego of never giving up a ship, even if it was given virtually no weapons, no protection, and orders not to incite conflict with hostile forces.
You can't look at an online discussion on USS Pueblo without seeing Armchair Admirals and Chicken Hawk sabre rattlers shitblasting the late captain for not ordering his boys to man the three .50 cals that were not only frozen under tarps but not even within range of the North Koreans. If you honestly read this book from front to cover and your biggest takeaway is a sense of dishonour from Bucher not needlessly sacrificing his own men, then I hope to Christ almighty that you never get a leadership position
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2016
Meticulously researched and superbly written. The author puts you on the deck of the Pueblo when the tiny ship, completely undefended, is accosted by the North Korean navy. He captures the chaos as the crew desperately tries to destroy secret documents and the fear and dread as the Koreans prepare to board. He captures the horror of their prison and the brutality of the sadistic guards who tortured them. But most of all, he captures the spirit of Pueblo skipper Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, an officer who may have not done things the way the Navy brass wanted, but nevertheless emerges as a hero among heroes.
April 5, 2019
I had little memory of the Pueblo incident which occurred when I was a young teenager. This isn't the kind of book I would typically read, with plenty of violence and occasional foul language. However, this was an excellent, comprehensive relating of the Pueblo story. And it laid out the many controversies associated with the "act of war", including the political aspects, in an honest, unbiased manner. I'm glad I read it.
March 1, 2014
Other than having seen the Hal Holbrook teleplay and knowing the basic facts of the Pueblo's capture and imprisonment, I knew nothing about the details of the Pueblo incident.
Jack Cheevers, without running Pete Bucher up the flagpole, does an admirable job of showing how utterly stupid it was for the ship, not much more than a garbage scow (it was actually, originally, a WWII Army supply ship) to be doing the mission it was doing.
That's doubly true when you look at the risk-reward issue, based on how much intelligence equipment the Pueblo had on board. It's at least quadruply true when, as Cheevers notes, North Korea surely salvaged most of the intelligence encryption devices from the boat, used the torturous beatings of the crew to get some information out of the communications techs, and got Soviet help with reverse engineering them. That's octupally (sic) true when, as Cheevers also notes, the most infamous spy in at least U.S. Navy history if not uniform U.S. military history, John Walker, had started selling encryption "keys" for these machines just a few months before the Pueblo was lost. Add in the fact that Pueblo mission oversight was jointly shared by the Navy and the NSA, and the clusterf***s are complete.
Cheever then goes on to look in detail at the post-release court of inquiry the Navy conducted in which, although it didn't aim to make Bucher a total fall guy, still wanted to submit him to court marshal for not suicidally risking the seizure of his ship, which it technically wanted to call a surrender.
Jack Cheevers, without running Pete Bucher up the flagpole, does an admirable job of showing how utterly stupid it was for the ship, not much more than a garbage scow (it was actually, originally, a WWII Army supply ship) to be doing the mission it was doing.
That's doubly true when you look at the risk-reward issue, based on how much intelligence equipment the Pueblo had on board. It's at least quadruply true when, as Cheevers notes, North Korea surely salvaged most of the intelligence encryption devices from the boat, used the torturous beatings of the crew to get some information out of the communications techs, and got Soviet help with reverse engineering them. That's octupally (sic) true when, as Cheevers also notes, the most infamous spy in at least U.S. Navy history if not uniform U.S. military history, John Walker, had started selling encryption "keys" for these machines just a few months before the Pueblo was lost. Add in the fact that Pueblo mission oversight was jointly shared by the Navy and the NSA, and the clusterf***s are complete.
Cheever then goes on to look in detail at the post-release court of inquiry the Navy conducted in which, although it didn't aim to make Bucher a total fall guy, still wanted to submit him to court marshal for not suicidally risking the seizure of his ship, which it technically wanted to call a surrender.
April 25, 2016
This was a very interesting read and it surprised me. The book is written by a political reporter based on accounts of the crew during the capture of the Pueblo spy ship and about America at the time. This took place during the Cold War/ Korean wars when North Korea turned communist. This was a historical genre which is why I was surprised I liked it so much. It was a pretty fast read not because it was an easy read but because I couldn’t put the book down. There were a couple slow moving parts of politics in America at the time but the stories of the crew made up for it. This book took different views of the government ,the crew, and the captain which showed the author’s reporter style writing. It made my heart ache for the crew during the stories of torture they endured but it had me laughing at how the ruined North Korean propaganda, made them look foolish, and rebel in any way the could. One example was the “Hawaiian good luck sign” which was the middle finger to ruin propaganda pictures and make the North Korean government look stupid. This book deals with fragile topics but is a needed to be read for story in hope for humanity from this crew when any hope at the time was lost and the odds were against them. This book will change your mindset on how strong humanity is.
January 13, 2014
Informal poll -- I decided to test out the author's comment that many people don't even remember the "Pueblo Incident". I asked maybe a dozen family & friends. Only three people had any inkling at all what it was about. My Dad was the best informed -- of course he was actually fighting with South Korean troops in Vietnam at the time. I got him a copy of this book and I'm really looking forward to discussing it with him.
I knew just enough about this story to know that it might make a great book -- & it did. The author does a fine job of weaving the story together with the personalities involved. He takes you from their harrowing sea voyage, to the crew's confrontation with their attackers at sea & then later, to the aftermath at home. The story is mesmerizing and the writing is gripping from beginning to end.
The author takes a seemingly small slice of history and skillfully reveals it as powerful story of heroes & villains, hot war & cold war, personal conflict and loyalty, clashes between governments, and irony. You will enjoy this book.
I knew just enough about this story to know that it might make a great book -- & it did. The author does a fine job of weaving the story together with the personalities involved. He takes you from their harrowing sea voyage, to the crew's confrontation with their attackers at sea & then later, to the aftermath at home. The story is mesmerizing and the writing is gripping from beginning to end.
The author takes a seemingly small slice of history and skillfully reveals it as powerful story of heroes & villains, hot war & cold war, personal conflict and loyalty, clashes between governments, and irony. You will enjoy this book.
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December 28, 2013A well written account about a almost forgotten incident during the tumultous year of 1968. A US Spy Ship was captured by the then as now rogue government of North Korea. The book tells of the bravery displayed by the 85 sailors who endured capture, and torture at the hands of North Korean govenment, and response or lack of by the US Government preoccupied with of course the Vietnam war and the fear that this event would cause an escalation of that war. Upon on their return the crew was welcomed as heroes by the US public and less than that by the NAvy who tried to court martial the commander of the ship.
Two things I walked away from after reading the book was the incredible bravery of LLoyd Bucher the commander. The second is the shadowy world of NOrth Korea, an enemy then and an enemy now. A extremely well written book that takes you back in time to an extremely tumultous time in our nations history.
Two things I walked away from after reading the book was the incredible bravery of LLoyd Bucher the commander. The second is the shadowy world of NOrth Korea, an enemy then and an enemy now. A extremely well written book that takes you back in time to an extremely tumultous time in our nations history.
March 22, 2015
ACT OF WAR is a thorough analysis of the USS PUEBLO crisis of 1968. Often overlooked because of its proximity to the other events of that year, the seizure of the USS PUEBLO on the high seas by the North Koreans, and the subsequent immiseration and torture of her crew, was a low point in the history of American arms and a stain of honor that has yet to be blotted out. The capture of an American warship - even one so rickety and poorly prepared for battle as USS PUEBLO - is quite simply intolerable, all the more so when said warship is currently being used as a museum exhibit dedicated to the glories of the one-party state of a foreign tyrant. And yet, the Johnson Administration did tolerate it, not wishing to spark a second Korean War, and subsequent Administrations have not lifted one finger to recapture or scuttle the USS PUEBLO. It is a sorry state of affairs, and Cheever tells the story well, with authority and verve.
July 15, 2024
Unnerving account of the capture and imprisonment of the crew of the USS Pueblo by North Korea.
April 18, 2019
First two thirds felt like a defense of the skipper, though I tend to side with the minority that feels that he didn't do enough. However, despite the author's voice, I commend on the level of detail, the chronological nature of the unfolding, and the sheer complexity of this infamous incident. Bravo all around; a fantastic historical read.
June 23, 2023
Great example of what happens when you put a good person in a shit situation.... The government set Bucher up for failure. Let him and his crew of 82 men get tortured for a year. And then, let's court martial him. Because how dare we take responsibility for setting this man up. Audiobook version, did not like the actor. But the book seemed well written and well researched and it will get you fired up. I also learned that I could never be military, for multiple reasons. One being that I don't believe our country is the best and refuse to listen to other ideas about how a country should be run. The other being that I would not tolerate torture just because the US can't apologize. Call me unpatriotic, I'm a kind human to all, not just those who think, look and act like I do.
July 21, 2023
Excellent book about the seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo in 1968 by North Korea and the torture and travails of its brave crew that endured 11 months of imprisonment. Special attention is given to the captain, Lloyd Bucher, who was later blamed for "giving up the ship without a fight" despite being sent on a spying mission with little chance of resisting in any meaningful way. Good coverage of the Johnson Administration's diplomatic efforts to free the crew and the sisyphean task of negotiating with the North Koreans.
March 11, 2018
A better book then I thought it would be! I read it in order to get some background on Korean (North & South) and also the somewhat current history. Russia too is involved. I was intrigued by it was an American ship surveilling the North Koreans in 1968. I was 6, my uncle was in Vietnam at that time. Drafted into the Army. There's a lot of relevant information as to the North & South Korean conflict NOW. The book was interesting and a good read. Well worth your time.
May 20, 2024
In-depth details of an event I heard about
The Pueblo was captured a little over a year before I joined the Army as a Army version of a Navy CT. I served in Korea several times and the capture and other events remained standard practice for North Korea. I was not aware of the level of failure on the part of the Navy in covering the ship during its operation and how long it took the Navy to recognize the crew's time as POWs. Sad state of affairs.
The Pueblo was captured a little over a year before I joined the Army as a Army version of a Navy CT. I served in Korea several times and the capture and other events remained standard practice for North Korea. I was not aware of the level of failure on the part of the Navy in covering the ship during its operation and how long it took the Navy to recognize the crew's time as POWs. Sad state of affairs.
January 4, 2014
4.5 stars! Jack Cheevers does an exceptional job relating the story of the USS Pueblo's capture as well as the political events leading up to the capture and after the release. The case for surrendering the Pueblo without firing a shot has always been a controversy. Mr Cheevers' relatively unbiased historical account lets the reader come to his or her own conclusion.
May 31, 2016
An amazing piece of writing, a tremendous amount of time and work to compile. It took the author seven years just to get some documents declassified. The author captures the men involved and details the eleven months of imprisonment they went through as well as the terrible treatment they received. I read this 431 page book in two days. It was that compelling. Highly recommend it.
June 18, 2014
This book gives insight not just to a colossal mismanagement of a particular mission for a United States Navy.
Highly readable and also has some timeless touchstones to our modern problems and how our leaders can avoid starting wars and above that, gives us a chance to hear the language of BS when it's being fed to is.
Highly readable and also has some timeless touchstones to our modern problems and how our leaders can avoid starting wars and above that, gives us a chance to hear the language of BS when it's being fed to is.
October 8, 2022
This book infuriated me! Are there really no plans in the file for what ifs and to allow anyone to capture or kill other then torture them without immediate and devastating response is absurd. Those Mens lives are ruined.
Then to imagine a court marshal, who care about a VFW bug !
Then to imagine a court marshal, who care about a VFW bug !
December 29, 2013
Great book. Highly recommend it.
May 13, 2019
Very good
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