By R. D. (Sam) Marquess
I have to agree, if not expand on the disgust for Lyndon Johnson.
I was stationed at Osan Air Force Base (K-6) when the Pueblo was attacked, boarded and eventually towed to North Korea. I was in charge of the long-haul and tactical communications at our transmitter site. There was a very noticeable increase in the “krypto” traffic and we logged the time.
On our base, we had two “hot” (nuclear-armed) F-4”s. Our flying time to the Pueblo was 10 to 12 minutes. Kimpo Air Force Base also had hot 4”s and their flying time was four to six minutes. The May Day call from the Pueblo happened 45-plus minutes before they were boarded.
Johnson”s excuse for non-action was that “we didn”t have time to respond.”
We had a bunch of very pissed off sailors from the Enterprise on base for a week or two.. The whole thing made me so mad that when I was stationed at Bergstrom AFB (Austin, TX.) before getting out in December ”68, I didn”t have garbage service at our house, instead I took it out to LBJ ranch and dumped it.
R. D. (Sam) Marquess
Hidden Valley Lake
