Captured crewmembers of the USS PUEBLO giving the “Hawaiian Good Luck Sign,” 1968.
North Korea celebrated the 50th anniversary of the USS Pueblo (AGER-2) incident on Tuesday via broadcasts on state television and in an international press statement.
In 1968, the North Korean Navy captured the signals intelligence ship USS Pueblo (AGER-2) and its crew of 82 sailors. The sailors suffered starvation and torture and were used for propaganda purposes for almost a year before a release was negotiated in December of 1968.
[…]
Pueblo’s crew resisted when possible, most notably by frequently raising their middle fingers to ruin propaganda photo ops staged by the North Koreans, telling their captors the gesture was considered a “Hawaiian Good Luck Sign,” according to the Navy investigation. The crew was severely beaten near the end of their confinement when the North Koreans learned the gesture’s true meaning.
[More at the link above.]
Tacky Raccoons 
i remember this from when i was a child – i’ll never forget it
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ksbeth–
I was young as well, didn’t understand what it was about at the time, but knew that it was a big deal because Walter Cronkite said so.
That Cmdr. “Pete” Bucher, was castigated for not fighting against a vastly superior force with a ship that was virtually unarmed (and that the US Navy ignored requests for help) was abhorrent. All crew members survived the horrific ordeal.
This wasn’t the first time that a US reconnaissance ship was attacked and abandoned by her own government. A few months earlier, the USS Liberty suffered a similar fate, but with casualties.
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