Memorial Day speaker conveys story of attack on USS Liberty

Patrons, veterans and law enforcement alike salute the American flag as a bugler sounds 'Taps' bugle May 29, 2017 during Memorial Day services at National Cemetery.
Patrons, veterans and law enforcement alike salute the American flag as a bugler sounds 'Taps' bugle May 29, 2017 during Memorial Day services at National Cemetery.

The Jefferson City Veterans Council marked Memorial Day with a program at Jefferson City National Cemetery that featured Vince Rost as speaker. In addition to the usual solemn ceremonies to commemorate fallen men and women who served in uniform, Rost spoke about a loss of U.S. sailors with a Missouri connection.

Rost serves as the commander of the Roscoe Enloe Post 5 American Legion in Jefferson City. Born in St. Charles, he is a Navy veteran who retired in 2011 as asenior chief gunner's mate (E-8) after a 20-year career. He works in the Jefferson City area as a probation and parole officer, and is also a life member of the Veterans of Foregin Wars, Combat Motorcycle Veterans Association, American Legion Riders and the Forty and Eight.

"I thought about what might be important to mention today, and being a simple guy, with simple beginnings from right here in Missouri, I thought a simple thought and wondered what those who gave their lives might want us to think about or say on a day like today," he said.

"I remembered a Bible verse from John 15:13 that says, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,'" he said of the spirit he wanted to convey.

"The men and women who lay here to rest served us in that very way."

He's familiar with many military stories, and "being a Navy veteran naturally biases my wonderings to stories of the sea," like more well-known ones from the World War II era: the attack on Pearl Harbor; the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and perhaps the Battle of Midway.

Personally, he's captivated by the deadly Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in the Mediterranean Sea on June 8, 1967. The attack occured during Israel's Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

The USS Liberty was a cargo ship that converted into a "listening ship" for use in National Security Agency missions to intercept and collect other nations' communications.

Whether the attacks by Israeli fighter jets and boats firing rockets, napalm bombs and torpedoes were intentional or accidental remains a matter of controversy. It's not a matter of dispute that the Israeli attack killed 34 U.S. sailors and wounded 171 more.

James Lee Lenau, 20, of Washington, Missouri was among the sailors killed in the attack. Lenau was a cryptologist.

The hits from explosives and incendiary bombs left a 40-foot hole in the 456-foot ship's hull, knocked out its propulsion system and ignited fires that burned in the interior compartments and on the deck. Crewmembers were still under fire from the jets and boats as they tried to fight the conflagrations and bring their ship's systems back online, and they only had four .50-caliber machine gun mounts and small arms to defend themselves with.

Rost said U.S. Navy jets were launched with the intention of defending the ship, but they were called back before they could offer any assistance. The assaults ended when the attackers left the area.

Two months after the attack, Lenau's body was returned home for his funeral in his hometown in Washington.

Rost repeated the biblical verse he quoted earlier from John 15:13.

"As I said earlier, like many of you, I'm a simple man, born right here in Missouri, thousands of miles from where our veterans often deploy to defend the freedoms that we so commonly enjoy. And when I think, 'why did I come home from those deployments', unlike James Lenau, I have to assume that I was meant to make the connection between Jim and our community on a day like today.

"I count myself a shipmate and a comrade of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their friends. I hope that we all continue to value the virtue of service and the necessity to defend the values that we hold dear. Whatever we do as a community, state or nation, my further hope is that we continue to fight for these principles as a united people on every battlefield that we come across. That is what I believe these departed comrades would want us to think about and act upon, to move forward their legacy for future generations."

The veterans council's tradition of the two bell ceremony included over 200 names this year; the News Tribune counted 206 names of local veterans who have passed away since May of last year.

In the ceremony, a bell was rung, names were read two at a time, and loved ones had the opportunity to place a poppy flower on a memorial wreath before the bell was rung again. The honor guard present placed the flowers if no loved ones were present.

The program on Monday also featured patriotic music sung by Ron Schieferdecker; a welcome by Mayor Carrie Tergin; the reading of the original order to commemorate Memorial Day, then known as Decoration Day, by Missouri Highway Patrol Lt. Jason Crites; the placing of a memorial wreath; and a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps by the S.F. Gearhart Detachment of the Marine Corps League.

An "aisle of honor" also included other police officers from the Highway Patrol, Cole County Sheriff's Department and Jefferson City Police Department; the Missouri National Guard; the Jefferson City Fire Department; Jefferson City Sea Cadets; and the Cole County Ambulance District.