"lLLEGAL capture of USS Pueblo - 3 ships were in Gulf of Tonkin"?

     I have a lot of relatives who have served in the armed forces.  My (biological) father, James Johnston, did not go to Viet Nam but had some rather unpleasant duties which occasionally brought to his awareness stories of unpleasant things happening there.  For example, he has a different take on the history of the USS Pueblo.

The US Pueblo Veteran's Association posts the following at USPueblo.org:

The USS PUEBLO was a U. S. Navy vessel sent on an intelligence mission off the coast of North Korea. On January 23, 1968, the USS PUEBLO was attacked by North Korean naval vessels and MiG jets. One man was killed and several were wounded. The Eighty-two surviving crew members were captured and held prisoner for 11 months. The pages on this site tell the story of the Pueblo Incident and present the USS PUEBLO Veteran's Association.

And for those who have anything different to say, or anything to add, they have a page with the following:

USS PUEBLO (AGER-2)

 

Help Us With Our History

 

The crew of the USS PUEBLO would like to hear from persons who were in any way involved with the Pueblo Incident, especially during the conversion, operation planning, North Korean attack, Naval task force off Wonsan, our captivity and Court of Inquiry.  Or, if you served either on the USS PALM BEACH (AGER-3), or USS BANNER (AGER-1) during the AGER Program and would like to share a tale, or two, we will be pleased to hear from you.

If you have researched the Pueblo Incident, or otherwise have valuable information to help this site become a historical resource, please assist us.

Also, if you contributed to our well being and we have not shown our gratitude, please forgive us as our memories have faded with time, or we have not been able to contact you for permission to publish your good deeds. Please provide us the specifics and permission.

Thank you.  

And so James Johnston sent the following:

Sir:

     l was formerly with the Adjutant General's ofc at Ft Lewis, Wa during
l966 to l968 and was involved with Deployment of units.
     During this time we learned of 3 ships, lntelligence, whom were put into
Korean waters so one would be captured and thus the United States could
declare a LEGAL war instead of the Viet Nam conflict so they would have
access to National Guard and Reservists units.
     The rights of thousands of National Guard were thrown out and the troops
sent to Viet Nam under the guise of saving those on the USS Pueblo.
lt has been almost 40 years and l have filed a FOIA (Freedom of
lnformation Act) with US Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state to
check into this as well as the CIA's involvement and their attempts to
stop me from divulging information.
     l had phone conversation with Cmdr. Bucher in the 80's and also with
Gen. Westmoreland. His letter to me to me l was out of line but now am
going to be awarded, after 38 years, with full benefits from PTSD and
Morgellons Disease after l found a soldier who was in the AG when the
CID tried to let the press know what was happening.
     l have tried in VAIN to get ANY correspondence from you so am assuming
you are run by the Government in order to not ask further questions.
Some day a clerk will read one of these emails and the truth will get
out on how the Pueblo was used to activate NG and ER units to fight in
the TET OFFENSIVE.
     You were the guinea pigs and l've always been sorry.

please comment,
James C. Johnston

I'm not asking you to believe him, but it is an interesting story!