European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doily Magazine nobody captures a ship on the High North koreans released Pueblo Crew at Bridge of no return the Pueblo echoes of an ordeal and lingering questions by Terry Kirkpatrick associated press the dream comes infrequently to Stephen but its Hes aboard the uss on that Zero degree Day in the sea of sea Spray icing the smoke from burning documents breathing the the Pueblos 83 Many unaware of their True Are bound and their ship under escort to a North korean even those who know the purpose of the sophisticated listening gear on Board Are what went wrong where is help How to escape the dream demands answers a Young intelligence officer fascinated by the abstract puzzles of electronic is caught in a physical one minute a Navy Lieuten ant eating Turkey and peas for the next a spy head ing into the the and the linger from that Day 10 years that Day began 11 months of Cement Block bowls of turnip soup and frequent beatings for the that Day dramatized the uncertainties of cold tradition nobody captures a ship on the High but someone did a Captain Doest give up his butane prisoners of a hostile Power  lend themselves to but Many of these for Stephen second ranking officer on the Pueblo and chief of its intelligence it was the first Day in the second half of his the As Harris Calls it taught him what his mind and body could and  a rare it blew a Hole in his it became an a stigma he  More than anything he it reaffirmed his belief in capture of the Pueblo was unusual in Modem times because it happened in International says Theodore who teaches military history at Duke and there was no backup from other ships or planes and the Crew had no efficient Way to destroy secret papers and equipment or to scuttle but the capture didst abort an International Summit conference As did the u2 incident Over Ropp nor did the Crew face problems in Captivity any different from those of prisoners in the korean the Navy Hast changed its code of conduct for sea captains or prisoners of intelligence collection has but the Era of satellite eavesdropping was already at hand when the Guf Troung North koreans climbed aboard the u tie Muo any Las Lac Topp its what it do to Ike uves of the when he left his wife of less than a year to join the Stephen Harris must have known the Penis of the a reminder sits in his Home in Silver a mahogany desk that belonged to Usi great great Ereat one of several Mer k William Harris salted from Massachusetts to the Caribbean in never to presumably lost in a storm at Stephen Harris came but As he walked the Bridge of no return to Freedom 11 months to the Day after the storm was Only he had been while a for pro motion to lieutenant and that was but he also was recommended for court along with Lloyd the Pueblos Bucher was charged for permitting his ship to be boarded and Harris for not entirely destroying All of the classified material it the old  folks fail to make the distinction that it was a military but not a fight ing Harris so they criticize us for not going Down with the when you have nothing to fight Back that particular principle becomes sort of if i had it to do id still Back Bucher a Hundred i dont think there was any other decision he could have maybe some Token gunshots the enemy just to say that we did open Bucher and Harris also were criticized for signing confessions and its a matter of ju4 sitting there taking a pounding when ultimately its going to happen we knew the credibility of those confessions based on the korean War so we were feeling less guilty about signing they were such ludicrous in we went out of our Way to fictionalized the inducement to sign was relentless crudely delivered by Boot or Board or sitting one could hear it happening to then foot Steps in the stopping at the the encounters i had with the North koreans i still consider a very private thing and a very disturbing Harris Pueblo skipper Bucher during january 1978 they have suffered the Secretary of the Navy said when he vetoed the court the question had been and the stain had when i came Back i was not warmly the record of my performance on an absolute scale appeared to be quite but it was a couple of Points less than what it needed to be in the competitive area of two years ago he was in the running for promotion to commander but didst make at he is Deputy director of the Navy courier an office that Eliv ers the navys secret documents and a Good management Job for his he next year he expects a Transfer to san two years it seems a drab end for someone who started with a Harvard proficiency in several love of the Pueblo did blast a Hole in my career As a naval it didst bring it to an abrupt but it eliminated the possibility of ascending to great i had hoped to be very accomplished in the intelligence gather ing i was fascinated by the techniques we were the ability to solve certain thorny Harris relives the Pueblo outside the he has spoken to More than in Church service telling them mostly bouts Bellg Lousias the most vivid memory of the Pueblo was after being sentenced to death the very first Day of in to have the Assurance that As a Christian Sal vation was mine and thai 1 would be in the presence of god if that execution were to take and the second most vivid i is answer to a specific prayer be Home for Christmas came when we returned to the United states on Christ Mas with our families waiting for it was not foxhole he in the Case of Crew members it might have although religion was a main topic in the and a Survey conducted by the Navy chief of chaplains sometime after we got Back revealed that Many of the men had a much More Active Church life after the Pueblo than last Harris spoke in san and Bucher who has retired from the and several other Pueblo crewmen came to hear they talked for several wondering about the at last 25 of the 8q military men on the Pueblo were still on Active Harris this was about three years pm sure some have left but i Felt that was a fairly High be cause most of the people were Young first Ermers who had not intended to make the Navy a they were just putting in their the draft was going at the although Hes written a Book about the episode and has much Public Speal Daf about he Trio to take an impersonal i had nothing to do with the fact that the Pueblo Inci Dent took he it was an Accident in my i sort of want to divorce myself from it the stars and stripes Page 13