This week marks anniversary of USS Liberty attack

Roger Bagan doesn't like to re-live his memories of June 8, 1967, unless it's for a good cause.

The last time he got together with his Navy buddies in the mid-1990s, he found that all they wanted to talk about was the day their ship, the USS Liberty, was attacked off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula.

"This is not my kind of thing," he said of swapping war stories. "It affects my thinking."

Bagan has a stack of books written about the attack on the Liberty, one of them is filled with autographs of his comrades. But he hasn't read the books.

He sometimes thumbs through the black-and-white photographs at the center of one of the hardbound volumes, and points out the men he remembers, whose names spring to his lips as easily 38 years later as they did on the day of the attack.

But he has no interest in reading the text. He remembers what happened.

The men had just completed their battle drill for the day, and the crew was relaxed. The ship hatches were open, and the men were going about their duties. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was high in the sky, when suddenly an Israeli aircraft appeared overhead.

Unexpectedly, the aircraft opened fire on the ship. Bagan, a petty officer at the time, heard the alarm, "This is no drill, man your battle stations."

The ship was strafed by the aircraft, and became crippled. Men were being hit, some were dying. A reconnaissance plane flew over to assess the damage, Bagan said, and then the torpedo hit.

"They knew the ship was paralyzed," Bagan said, and that was when the Israelis sent in their torpedo boats. The torpedo launched by one boat blew a hole into the starboard side of the Liberty, causing it to tip toward the water.

Bagan's focus during the battle was taking care of the wounded. Petty Officer William Lemay was one of the casualties Bagan spotted, and he was too severely wounded to get himself down to the mess hall, where a makeshift hospital was being set up.

"I had to drag the guy onto a stretcher," Bagan said, and he managed to get Lemay down into the mess hall. Lemay survived, much to Bagan's surprise, as he didn't hold out hope for the severely wounded man.

When the attack was over, 34 men were dead and 172 were wounded. The ship was listing severely to starboard and the surviving crew struggled to patch together the ship and keep it from sinking as they waited for help.

Help came, but not until a full day later. With the help of a Navy escort, the Liberty limped into Malta, where it was placed in dry dock. The ship was later decommissioned and scrapped.

Shortly after the attack, the Israeli government reported that its military had mistaken the American intelligence ship for an Egyptian craft. At the time, Israel was at war with surrounding Arab nations in what became known as the Six Day War.

Liberty crew members claim the Liberty was in international waters and was flying an American flag during the time of the attack, however U.S. government investigations also determined that the attack was a mistake.

Many surviving Liberty crew members, including Bagan, disagree with that conclusion. Among the other theories is that Israel intentionally bombed the ship to draw the United States into the conflict with its Russian-backed Arab neighbors.

Bagan continued in the Navy, following his commanding officer to the USS Kilauea. He retired from the Navy in 1987 and got a job at Hewlett-Packard Co. in California, eventually transferring to Corvallis.

He retired from HP on Memorial Day, and is leaving Corvallis behind, planning to pack up and travel the world.

Prompted by the anniversary of the attack this week, Bagan was compelled to discuss it for the benefit of others. He is concerned that too many people have no idea the attack even occurred.

Regardless of where he goes, Bagan said, he will always take with him the memories of the attack, all "for a simple mistake."