This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Graves, Curtis Alan, CT1.
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Contact Info
Home Town Gross Point Farms
Last Address Gross Point Farms
Date of Passing Jun 08, 1967
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Remembrance Memorial Display at Military and Space Museum, Frankenmuth, Michigan
Remembrance: Graves Hall (barracks) in Pensacola, Florida.
FINAL DUTY ASSIGNMENT
U.S.S. Liberty (AGTR-5)
USS Liberty Incident (Israel)
From Month/Year
June / 1967
To Month/Year
June / 1967
Description The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship. At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nmi (29.3 mi; 47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.
Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship. Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship's identity, though others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.
In May 1968, the Israeli government paid US$3,323,500 (US$22.9 million 2017) in compensation to the families of the 34 men killed in the attack. In March 1969, Israel paid a further $3,566,457 to the men who had been wounded. On 18 December 1980, it agreed to pay $6 million as settlement for the final U.S. bill of $17,132,709 for material damage to Liberty herself plus 13 years' interest.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1967
To Month/Year
June / 1967
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories During the "Six-Day War" between Israel and several Arab nations, she was sent to collect electronic intelligence in the eastern Mediterranean. On the afternoon of 8 June 1967, while in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula, Liberty, though clearly marked as a U.S. Navy ship, was struck by Israeli aircraft. After suffering damage and many personnel casualties from gunfire, rockets and bombs, she was further attacked by three Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats. One torpedo hit her on the starboard side, forward of the superstructure, opening a large hole in her hull. In all, thirty-four men were killed in the attacks and nearly 170 wounded. Israel subsequently apologized for the incident, explaining that its air and naval forces had mistaken the Liberty for a much smaller Egyptian Navy ship.
Though severely damaged, Liberty's crew kept her afloat, and she was able to leave the area under her own power. She was escorted to Malta by units of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and was there given interim repairs. After these were completed in July 1967, Liberty returned to the United States. She was decommissioned in June 1968 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register two years later. USS Liberty was sold for scrapping in December 1970.
