USNA CLASS OF 1953

6708 Pageland Lane

Gainesville, Virginia 20155

September 24, 2009

Admiral Gary Roughead, U. S. Navy

Office of the Chief of Naval Operations

2000 Navy Pentagon

Washington, DC 20350

Dear Admiral Roughead:

Our last letter to you was ten years ago (archive attached), when you were the Commandant of Midshipmen, and the subject was a book written by the Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, "An Education For Our Time" which we thought you would find interesting and relevant in regard to the Academy.  Recently our class has been discussing James Scott’s book published this past June by Simon and Schuster, "The Attack on the Liberty" subtitle, "The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship."

We believe this well written, meticulously researched and fully documented account of the attack and the shameful political aftermath which both Admirals McDonald and Moorer confronted as this remarkable and brave crew were shunned because it was more important to the White House to protect relations with an ally than to support and defend American service members, will be on the reading list of a wide American audience.

Scott has a strong personal attachment to the Liberty story as his father, John Scott, was a 24-year- old Ensign in Liberty and the damage control officer who led the heroic efforts by the crew which saved the ship from sinking.  The book is dedicated as follows:" For my father, John Scott, who lived to tell about it.  And in memory of the thirty-four, who didn't."  The page then lists in a single column the thirty-four names of those killed, one of whom, the Executive Officer, Philip Armstrong, Jr., who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously, was our USNA classmate.

The author is an accomplished journalist and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University 2006 to 2007 when he started work on this book.  Drawing on new interviews and recently declassified documents, Scott demonstrates that Israel’s mistaken identification claim is implausible. Notably, the Epilogue (page 288) describes a personal apology to his father during a 2007 meeting in Israel with one of the Israeli pilots who had attacked the Liberty.

We trust that you and Admiral Mullen and General Jones, to whom we are also sending copies of "The Attack on the Liberty" will read it, and following in the direction of the late Admiral Thomas Moorer, will earnestly try to find a way to finally honor in truth and justice these men, "who did not give up the ship".

Very Respectfully,

David B. Jones, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)

President