Navy fails to learn from Pueblo incident

The recent shabby treatment of Captain Brett Crozier, of the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt has ended with Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigning and two of his superiors stating he sacrificed himself by resigning and would have kept him. I say good riddance. I can only imagine what it cost us for him to fly 8,000 miles one way, not including manpower to pull it off and dress down Capt. Crozier to his crew.

But perhaps the worst thing Modly and Naval Command did was to completely ignore previous naval history and management considering there was precedent in this situation. They should have remembered the Pueblo Incident in 1968 where North Korea killed one sailor, and captured 82 other crew members of the ship for allegedly being in their home waters. Commander Lloyd Bucher was beat down by a naval inquiry when he decided not to fight an overwhelming enemy thereby saving those sailors lives. It made zero sense to have sailors killed in this case instead he chooses not to John Wayne the situation. Years later the Navy was admonished and Bucher's reputation was partially restored. Secretary of the Navy Modly apparently missed that one and it was much more grievous than this incident. He should look in the mirror and repeat again the word stupid. Fight smart, not stupid. Finally, kudos again to the Pueblo crew for their excellent group picture at the time under difficult circumstances.

Timothy Trosky

Cedar Rapids