The recent fiasco with Iran holding ten U.S. Navy sailors overnight and releasing them with the thanks of the U.S. government reminds me of the "Pueblo."
I was serving in South Korea in January of 1968. I had driven a jeep from our unit at Camp Red Cloud to our headquarters near Seoul. While there we were all called to a briefing at which we were told the DefCon was being elevated because of the North Korean seizure of the "Pueblo."
I was scared.
I was more scared during those first hours than I ever was in Vietnam (where I would be stationed later on in the year).
Why?
Because I knew that our weaponry in South Korea was all nuclear. I feared the detonation of nuclear
weapons. I had no concept or clue that our government would sell-out the crew of the "Pueblo."
But we did.
Is this all foreign to you? You can read more about it at this site: CLICK HERE
A few months later I was assigned to Germany...and about two weeks before the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia my unit was sent to the border to monitor the coming invasion...
A few weeks after that I was sent to Vietnam.
I don't regret the four years I spent on active duty in the Army; but these incidents and more caused much confusion, much anger, and much disillusionment....and still do.