美国国家公共电台 NPR Remembering North Korea's Audacious Capture of the USS Pueblo

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

This is a story about a standoff between the United States and North Korea. We are not talking about the current tensions over nuclear weapons. This standoff occurred 50 years ago today when North Korean forces attacked the spy ship USS Pueblo¹ off the east coast of North Korea.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The North Koreans eventually captured the vessel² and its 82 surviving crew members. As part of our series looking back at the events of 1968 which shaped today's world, NPR national security correspondent David Welna reports on the saga³ of the Pueblo and its crew.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE⁴: The waters off San Diego are where the USS Pueblo made its last port call in the U.S., bound for international waters off North Korea. For an eyewitness⁵ account of what happened when it got there, I visit a former crew member in the San Diego suburb of Bonita.

BOB CHICCA: I am Bonita's token POW (laughter).

WELNA: Retired⁶ Staff Sergeant⁷ Bob Chicca was one of two U.S. Marines assigned to the Pueblo. Unlike the rest of the crew, they both spoke⁸ some Korean.

CHICCA: They wanted a Korean linguist⁹ onboard, and I was it.

WELNA: That's because the Pueblo was on its maiden¹⁰ voyage as a spy ship masquerading as an environmental research vessel. Its mission - gathering¹¹ intelligence electronically on the Soviet¹² Union and North Korea for the Navy and the National Security Agency.

CHICCA: We were out there alone. That's why the ship's song was "The Lonely Bull" - 'cause we went out alone. And we were supposed to just collect intelligence and not cause trouble.

WELNA: But trouble came to the Pueblo.

CHICCA: That's a painting done of the attack on the ship.

WELNA: A big oil painting on Chicca's living room wall shows six North Korean warships¹³ and two MiG jet fighters firing on the Pueblo as black smoke rises from its deck.

CHICCA: They shot us up for two to three hours.

WELNA: What was that like?

CHICCA: Kind of gruesome (laughter). I got shot in the capture right there.

WELNA: A 57-millimeter shell hit him in the groin after tearing through two other crew members, killing¹⁴ one of them. The Pueblo was virtually defenseless. It had only two small machine guns draped with ice-encrusted tarps.

CHICCA: The last conversations we got over the radio was that help was on the way. Obviously it wasn't.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LYNDON B JOHNSON: What's your speculation¹⁶ on what happened?

ROBERT MCNAMARA: Mr. President, I honestly don't know.

WELNA: The next day, President Lyndon Johnson gets on the phone with his defense¹⁵ secretary, Robert McNamara, who promises a speedy response.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MCNAMARA: I think we need a Cuban missile crisis approach to this. And God damn it, we ought to get locked in a room, and you ought to keep us there, insist we stay there until we come up with answers to three questions. What was the Korean objective? Why did they do it? Secondly¹⁷, what are they going to do now, blackmail¹⁸ us, let it go? And thirdly, what should we do now?

WELNA: LBJ settles on a show of force. The next day he sends the aircraft carrier Enterprise closer to North Korea and activates¹⁹ Army Reserve units. Here's "ABC Evening News" anchor Bob Young.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ABC EVENING NEWS")

BOB YOUNG: The Pueblo incident and today's military call-up come at a time when America is already engaged in one war, a war that has been challenged politically here at home almost as much it has been challenged militarily on the battlefields in Vietnam.

WELNA: Unlike today, when it's South Korea pressing for diplomacy²⁰ with the North, back then Seoul was demanding a military response. Mitchell Lerner is a historian and Korea expert at Ohio State.

MITCHELL LERNER: The Pueblo is not just captured in a vacuum. It's at the same time that the North has launched an assassination²¹ attempt against Korean President Park Chung-hee that narrowly misses. So the South is really irate²². And they are demanding that they march north and that the United States back them up.

WELNA: But the Johnson administration, mired²³ in the Vietnam War, has no stomach for possibly restarting the Korean War. Instead, the U.S. spends month after month haggling²⁴ with North Korea over releasing the Pueblo and its crew. Pyongyang insists the U.S. apologize for intruding²⁵ in its territorial²⁶ waters. In San Diego, I also talk with Eddie Murphy. He was the Pueblo's navigator and second in command. North Korea's claims, he says, were nonsense.

EDDIE MURPHY: At all times we were in international waters we never violated the 12-mile limit, never, ever penetrated²⁷ the 12-mile limit.

WELNA: Did you come close to that 12-mile limit?

MURPHY: We were about 12.8 at one point. But never, ever did we violate their waters.

WELNA: While talks drag on the North Koreans beat, starve and torture their American captives, demanding written confessions²⁹. The Pueblo's commander, Lloyd Bucher, at first resists. But upon being told if he does not confess his fellow crew members will be executed, he agrees, but does so with an insulting play on words.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LLOYD BUCHER: The absolute truth of this bowel-wrenching confession²⁸ is attested³⁰ to by my fervent³¹ desire to paean³² the Korean People's Army Navy and their government.

WELNA: Paean, spelled P-A-E-A-N, means a tribute. At a reunion of the Pueblo's crew members years later Bucher, who died in 2004, recalls the trick he played on the North Koreans with his choice of words.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BUCHER: I was able to get them to buy the idea that we were all eager to paean North Korea, to paean Kim Il Sung and to paean their army and navy.

(LAUGHTER)

WELNA: Crew members also extended their middle fingers in photos North Korea unwittingly distributed worldwide. Pyongyang, meantime, is demanding what it calls the three A's - that the U.S. admit the Pueblo invaded their waters, apologize for having done so, and assure it would never happen again. On December 23, exactly 11 months after the Pueblo's capture, U.S. Army General Gilbert Woodward agrees to put his signature on such a statement. But he first makes clear he's doing so for just one reason.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MAJ GEN GILBERT WOODWARD: I will sign the document to free the crew and only to free the crew.

WELNA: But the crew is all the U.S. gets back.

JACK³³ CHEEVERS: And it turned out that a lot of things had fallen into the Communists' hands.

WELNA: Jack Cheevers wrote "Act Of War," a history of the Pueblo incident. He says 10 encryption machines and thousands of top secret documents aboard the Pueblo fell into North Korean and eventually Soviet hands.

CHEEVERS: It'd been a tremendous loss, much worse than originally was feared. One of the NSA historians described it as everyone's worst nightmare. And it was considered the worst intelligence loss in modern history.

WELNA: The crew came home to San Diego, but the Pueblo itself remains³⁴ in North Korea, part of a war museum. This video now plays aboard the captured ship.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The U.S. imperialists went down on their knees again before the independent army and people of Korea and signed the instrument of surrender.

VAN JACKSON: It's when David took on Goliath and won.

WELNA: Van Jackson was the Pentagon's top adviser³⁵ on North Korea in the Obama administration. He's written a book on how because of the Pueblo incident the U.S. established a reputation in North Korea for backing down which continues to this day.

JACKSON: It was a hell of an embarrassment³⁶ to the United States. It still is. But for North Korea this was a very proud moment that emboldened³⁸ them to do more of this activity. They look at America's track record of restraint. And that's what they learned from.

WELNA: For LBJ, the Pueblo stood as a bad omen³⁷. Again, historian Lerner.

LERNER: In his memoirs³⁹ he said if there's one day for me that symbolized⁴⁰ the chaos⁴¹ of 1968 it was the morning I woke up and found out the Pueblo had been captured.

WELNA: Former crewman Chicca, for his part, doubts the U.S. Navy's learned much from the Pueblo incident.

CHICCA: I think they would prefer to forget it occurred. And the Pueblo is an Indian village in the desert, not a ship.

WELNA: American forbearance did ultimately free Pueblo's crew and avoid war. But North Korea also learned from the episode that standing⁴² up to a military colossus, much as it is today with its nuclear weapons buildup, is a risk it's willing to take. David Welna, NPR News, San Diego.

(SOUNDBITE OF KENTO MASUDA'S "EXTERNALNET")

1 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

10 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

13 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

17 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

18 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

19 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

20 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

21 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

22 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

23 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 haggling   

v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I left him in the market haggling over the price of a shirt. 我扔下他自己在市场上就一件衬衫讨价还价。
• Some were haggling loudly with traders as they hawked their wares. 有些人正在大声同兜售货物的商贩讲价钱。 来自辞典例句

25 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

27 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

28 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

29 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

30 attested   

adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The handwriting expert attested to the genuineness of the signature. 笔迹专家作证该签名无讹。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Witnesses attested his account. 几名证人都证实了他的陈述是真实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 fervent   

adj.热的，热烈的，热情的

参考例句：

• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
• Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。

32 paean   

n.赞美歌，欢乐歌

参考例句：

• She struck up the first paean on the grand piano.她开始在那架大钢琴上演奏起第一首颂歌。
• The novel is a paean to the end of empire.该小说奏响了一个帝国落寞的赞歌。

33 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

34 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

35 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

36 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

37 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

38 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

40 symbolized   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• For Tigress, Joy symbolized the best a woman could expect from life. 在她看，小福子就足代表女人所应有的享受。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• A car symbolized distinction and achievement, and he was proud. 汽车象征着荣誉和成功，所以他很自豪。 来自辞典例句

41 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

42 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。