Rep. Boebert’s new resolution to bring back the USS Pueblo from North Korea
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRDO) -- Representative Lauren Boebert introduced a new resolution Tuesday that would bring back the USS. Pueblo from North Korea.
Crew members on the USS Pueblo were conducting intelligence operations in international waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula when they were captured on January 23, 1968.
The North Korean Navy captured the ship and 83 crew members. One sailor was killed in the incident.
They were held captive as prisoners of war for 11 months in North Korea before being released in December 1968.
However, the USS Pueblo remained in North Korea.
According to CNN, the ship is still commissioned in the US Navy, but in 2013 it began being used as a tourist attraction and a propaganda museum in Pyongyang.
Boebert released the following statement:
For 53 years, North Korea has unlawfully held the USS Pueblo captive, displaying it as a war trophy in its capital city of Pyongyang. Named for Pueblo, Colorado, bringing home the ship is a personal priority, as well as an important national effort to honor fallen Petty Officer Duane Hodges and display American resolve.
Rep. Lauren Boebert
The bill calls on President Joe Biden and the Secretary of State to make the return of the USS Pueblo a priority in future discussions with North Korea.
This isn't the first time Colorado Lawmakers have asked for the return of the USS Pueblo.
In 2016, members from the House and Senate put together a joint resolution to send a letter to North Korea and the federal government.
In February 2018, more than 100 crew members and their relatives filed a suit against North Korea in a federal court under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. That act allows victims to sue state sponsors of terrorism for torture, hostage-taking, personal injury, and death.
In January 2021, a U.S. federal court awarded $2.3 billion in damages to several crew members and their surviving families. The award was among one of the largest ever handed out in a state-sponsored terrorism case.
In 2016, KRDO spoke with some of the crew members still in the area. One man said while he was happy to reunite with his peers, the memories of being a prisoner in North Korea will never go away.
“They shot us up pretty heavy, boarded us, took the ship and the crew for 11 months sometimes under brutal conditions,” said Donald Peppard, who worked in the research department on the USS Pueblo.
To read the press release by Boebert, click here.
