Mark Thomas of WBT Radio (Charlotte, NC) asked Ray to tell the story of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967 during the Six-Day War. In his intro, Thomas spoke of the U.S. sailors “lost” that day.
Ray cannot abide the words “lost” or “fallen” when applied, as in this case, to murder. The 34 were not “lost;” they were killed, and 170-plus others were wounded – deliberately. Intercepted messages leave no doubt that the Israeli authorities were fully aware the Liberty was a U.S. naval ship in international waters, and that their aim was to sink it and leave no survivors. That was thwarted by the courageous action of seaman from Texas, Terry Halbardier, who skated across a napalm-laden deck to enable an SOS to the 6th Fleet – at which point the Israeli torpedo boats and aircraft got out of Dodge.
http://www.wbt.com/media/audio-channel/memorial-day-relfections
May 24 2017 (Ray’s segment runs from minute 31:40 to 48:00.)
The other portions of Mark Thomas’s hour-long “Memorial Day Reflections” are also worth a listen.