On January 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel,
was  engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast
when it is intercepted by North Korean patrol boats. According to
U.S. reports, the Pueblo was in international waters almost 16
miles from shore, but the North Koreans turned their guns on
the lightly armed vessel and demanded its surrender.

The Pueblo was boarded and taken to Wonson. There, the 83-man
crew was bound and blindfolded and transported to Pyongyang,
where they were charged with spying within North Korea’s 12-
mile territorial limit and imprisoned. It was the biggest crisis in
two years of increased tension and minor skirmishes between
the United States and North Korea.

The crew of USS Pueblo at a press conference in North
Korea in 1968. (Korea News Service via AP Images)

Camille Bohannon

On this day in 1968, the crew and captain of the U.S.
intelligence gathering ship Pueblo were released after
11 months imprisonment by the  government of North
Korea. The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by
North Korean warships on January 23, 1968 and
charged with intruding into North Korean waters.

Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher, commanding officer of the USS
Pueblo, confesses to espionage at a press conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1968, with crew members
looking on.

USS Pueblo today is a Pyongyang, North Korea museum
piece. It was never decommissioned and is the only U.S.
naval vessel in captivity.

    
(September 1, 1927 – January 28, 2004)

MIKE GRACIA

ED DONAHUE

The Tonight Show (TV Series 1953–1957)

Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen
(December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000)