good talk

Lloyd Mark "Pete" Bucher (1927 to 2004) was raised in a series of Catholic orphanages in IdahoH.  He saw the big movie with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney about Boys Town and he wrote Father Flanagan asking if he could live there and the good Father sent Pete the train fare.  Arriving in 1941 Pete excelled in academics and sports dropping out before his Senior Year to join the Navy and be in WW 11, he always considered Boys Town to be his home (Little Friends, please excuse the unstable library internet current).  After the War Pete went to the U. of Nebraska on the GI Bill graduating and receiving a Naval Commission through ROTCo.  Pete was sent to Submarine School at New London and for the next 10 years rose through the ranks as a Submariner.  He gained his first command as Commander, with the rank of Commander, of the USS Pueblo whose duties were Intelligence Collection (a spy ship).  Monitoring North Korea on Jan. 28, 1968 the Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans who claimed it was inside the 3 mile Limit but no doubt it was actually within International Waters.  During the Capture 1 Sailor was killed with 82 crewmen taken prisoner.  This was a huge International Incident.  The first 11 months went well for the crew with good food and treatment, only after the N. Koreans realized that the Americans were giving them a Phallic Symbol during staged Propaganda Photos did the Worst happen for the Captives with harsh treatment and beatings.  The N. Koreans threatened Commander Bucher with having to watch his 81 Men being executed one by one and only then did Pete agree to sign a Confession.  As dumb as the N. Koreans were and still are they didn't catch the Derogatory Pun....We Paean the North Korean State....We Paean their Great Leader Kim Il Sung....Satisfied, the N. Koreans repatriated the surviving 82 American Crewmen on Dec. 23, 1968.  The N. Koreans still have the USS Pueblo and it's still a Commissioned U.S. Navy Vessel.  The Navy, as slimey as they sometimes are, at first told Pete Bucher that they were going to Court Martial him, but later he was commended for doing the best he could for his men under very difficult circumstances and he retired from the Navy.  In the opinion of Mous, and I'm always right, Commander Bucher's Actions were Praiseworthy and a Noble Reflection on an American Naval Officer.  Father Flanagan might not have been successful with Charley during his brief stay at Boys Town (this guy said of the jury that convicted him of Murder...Why, I'm far better than they are...) but in Pete Bucher he produced a boy in keeping with the worthy standards of Boys Town.