SAN DIEGO — American Sailors and Marines endured nearly a year of torture while they were held captive during the Vietnam War 55 years ago. In 1968, a Navy intelligence ship called the Pueblo was overtaken at sea by the North Koreans. They took 82 American prisoners and killed one. The survivors were tortured for 11 months by North Koreans.
Decades later, some survivors of the USS Pueblo attack continue to meet every other year. A handful of former war prisoners will reunite at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley on Saturday.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Bob Chicca said he was 23 years old when he was stationed in Japan and ordered to serve as an interpreter on the Pueblo to spy on North Korea.
“It was just a temporary assignment for 30 days,” said Chicca.
Chicca was beaten and tortured by North Koreans during that time.
“It was a day-to-day delivery. Trying to stay alive, just survival thing," he said. "The food was awful, I lost about 50 pounds."
The North Koreans took control of the ship with a cannon and machine gun fire. Chicca suffered injuries at the time. North Koreans surgically operated on Chicca twice to remove the shrapnel from that day.
“They started with their bigger shells shootin' at the ship. And they came right through the side of the ship and blew up and it was what killed the other guy and wounded me and couple other people,” Chicca said.
He had a total of 11 surgeries but all 83 American troops on board endured a lifetime of injuries. Americans at the time encouraged President Lyndon Johnson to retaliate against North Korea. But the ongoing Vietnam war influenced Johnson's decision to negotiate instead.
“It took me months to realize no help was coming," Chicca said. "I thought they would come. We're sitting tied up and blindfolded on the deck. And I'm working with the guy next to me about which guards we're going to jump as soon as the planes we knew or come and came. They never came."
They were released just shy of Christmas that year.
Chicca tells his story with a sense of ease as time has passed. But he grew emotional as he shared pictures of their homecoming with CBS 8.
“All these cars were stopped, all of these people were cheering for us,” said Chicca.
The ship's commander Lloyd Butcher threw a Christmas party for survivors after a few years went by. While more than half the crew has since died, the remaining survivors continue to meet every two years.
“You think that you never want to see these guys again, but just the opposite is true, that you do want to see them,” said Chicca.
While the war prisoner said he has moved on from the trauma, he holds on to the camaraderie.
“It’s really silly. I'm really happy I went through it. Not many people get a chance to run through something like that. I learned an awful lot about myself. It was a very difficult time. It aided in my life since I sure as hell don't want to do it again,” Chicca said.
It took many years for these heroes to be recognized.
Chicca has been awarded the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, the Navy Commendation medal all with combat V's, and the POW medal along with many other awards.
The public is invited to a free screening of the Pueblo documentary which will be shown at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley on Saturday at 6:30pm. This reunion is also an opportunity for the crew to raise awareness about the need to be compensated from the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. They said Congress needs to act before the money runs out.
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