In 1968, Lt. Stephen Harris was imprisoned with 82 crew members of the USS Pueblo, an intelligence ship, when it was captured off the coast of North Korea. The men were held for almost a year. Harris shared his story yesterday with students at Germanna Community College. rdt Visit the Photo Place

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Boredom relieved by fear

POW from USS Pueblo gives talk at Germanna

By KRISTIN DAVIS

Date published: 1/17/2004

By KRISTIN DAVIS Crew member recalls capture of USS Pueblo

Stephen Harris had a bad feeling about the slow, broken-down World War II cargo ship before the crew ever set sail off the California coast.

The vessel, out of commission since the 1940s, was small by naval standards and had been "rusting away" for nearly three decades.

They called this scrap of a ship the USS Pueblo. To Harris, it was mainly a dilapidated nuisance, a waste of time, an order that had to be obeyed.

Things started out on a bad foot.

It was January 1968, and the 29-year-old was on a spy mission to the coast of North Korea for the U.S. Navy.

But this trip to the communist-run country, at the height of the Cold War and in the midst of the Vietnam War, was a last-minute switch from original orders to the Soviet Union.

"The whole thing seemed to be jinxed from the beginning," Harris said.

The Pueblo, suffering mechanical problems, broke down near Hawaii. It took two weeks to reach its destination 14 miles off the coast of North Korea.

The 83-member crew arrived in dead of winter.

As one of six officers on board, Harris reported intelligence back to the United States and was in charge of all "classified information."

With very little activity, there wasn't much to report. The ship almost capsized when, due to freezing temperatures, one side became coated with ice. Harris again wondered why they'd been sent--the United States had higher priorities and greater threats.

Things got worse.

The Pueblo was spotted by two North Korean fishing boats.

"We both got a good look at one another, so we sounded an alarm," Harris said.

The very next day, at least five small warships appeared on the horizon and surrounded the Pueblo, whose only defense were two low-powered machine guns in full view of any enemy. "Our chances for escape were minimal," he said.

The U.S. ship never fired back.

"We cranked up the ship and tried to get out of there" when the enemy warships revealed a flag that meant "stop or we'll open fire," Harris said.

They did just that, and one man was killed on the Pueblo.

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Date published: 1/17/2004