POWAY, Calif. -- Almost 40 years ago and half a world away, the North Korean Navy and Air Force illegally seized the USS Pueblo, an unarmed United States electronic surveillance ship with more than 80 crew members on board.

Early in the morning Jan. 23, 1968, the small, inconspicuous ship sailed along the waters of North Korea when a fleet of quick boats, submarines and aircraft surrounded the boat like a swarm of bees, explained Larry Strickland, a retired Navy senior chief petty officer and prisoner of war from the capture of the Pueblo.

The commanding officer of the boat, Navy Cmdr. Lloyd “Pete” Bucher, attempted to steer the ship away from the swarm, but the Koreans shot a crew member, leading to the capture of the ship.

“The Koreans quickly boarded our ship,” said Strickland. “They moved all of the sailors and Marines to the well deck, tied us up and made us kneel.

“They said they would shoot anyone who spoke or moved,” added Strickland.

The captors, awaiting instruction from their command, brought their prisoners into port that solemn afternoon.

The Koreans started the initial interrogations asking what the Americans were doing, explained the retired senior chief.  They were trying to identify all of the prisoners. At this point, the situation didn’t seem that bad.

Soon after the questioning, the captors transported the POWs to a warehouse near some railroad tracks, he explained. The Marines and sailors remained in uniform as the Koreans interrogated the officers from the ship.

“Outside of the warehouse stood demonstrators and protestors,” said Strickland, as he was remembering that horrific day. “They were all screaming ‘kill the Yankees.’

“At that point, I knew the only thing that was keeping us alive was the guards in charge of us. They also kept the demonstrators out,” Strickland added.

Once the interrogations ceased, the tired, hungry and scared POWs boarded and set out on an overnight journey across the vast country.

“We had a false sense of safety on the train,” Strickland said. “We only knew one thing: There were no demonstrators outside screaming and yelling.”

Every once in a while, the train would come to a sudden stop apparently in the middle of nowhere. Strickland believed it was check points.

“I prayed every time we stopped on that train, ‘please not now,’” he said. “I don’t want to die.”

Early the next morning as the sun rose, the POWs arrived at the capitol, Pyongyang, North Korea.

Upon their arrival to the capitol, the captors pulled everyone off the train in front of huge bright lights, explained Strickland. The Korean media awaited their arrival.

“We were then bussed into the initial compound,” Strickland said. “There we ran off the bus through a gauntlet of guards as they beat us on our way to our four-man cells.

“The enlisted stayed in the four-man cells, and the officers were put into solitary confinement,” added Strickland, who is the second member of his family to be a POW in North Korea.

The Koreans started serious interrogations. The officers went first and then the enlisted men, explained Strickland.

“We were asked to fill out information sheets, including our background information,” he said. “We all got beaten because we refused to reply with any useful information.

“It got really intense,” said Strickland. “At one point, they interrogated me, and I refused to fill out the form. They then threw down my service record book in front of me and yelled, ‘we already know!”

The Koreans wanted Strickland and his fellows to write letters home to make the government take action. They photographed the POWs constantly for propaganda purposes to use against the American people.

“We would flip the camera off in every photo they took,” he explained.  “This showed the American people that we were still in the fight.”

The Koreans asked the crew members why they flipped off the camera, added Strickland. They explained that it was a Hawaiian symbol of good luck.

The captors eventually required the POWs to ‘flip the camera off’ in every photo.

“Eventually either Time or Newsweek wrote about our photos,” he explained. “When the Koreans found out what it really meant, the beatings got worse.”

The North Koreans brought the service members into a 10-foot by 10-foot room.

“One at a time they beat us,” said Strickland his face cringing  as he recalled the painful memories. “You could hear the screams, and by the end of the day, the room was completely blood stained.”

The family members, left behind in the states, felt the effect of the situation, as well.

Rose Bucher, the wife of the commanding officer of the ship, found out about the capture of her husband’s ship while watching The Frank Blair show on a Monday morning.

A special bulletin came up announcing the North Koreans seized an American ship, the USS Pueblo.

“About a minute later, the TV flashed photos of my husband,” explained Rose. “Later that day, the Navy came to my house, explaining that he was a POW.”

Bucher did everything she could to keep the American people remembering the Pueblo. She even made bumper stickers that said “Remember the Pueblo.”

Rose appeared on the Mike Douglas show and announced to the public, “If your spouse is a crew member, mail me.”

She corresponded with all of the families and spouses of the crew and received enough mail and donations to make plaques for all the crew members on board.

The North Koreans demanded the United States release a video explaining that the ship sailed in Korean waters and was intercepted, said Strickland. America released two copies of the requested video, one for the Koreans, explaining how the Americans conducted missions in Korean waters, and a second released to the Americans, with a disclaimer at the end stating this was being released to set the Americans free.

To welcome home the Marines and sailors, John Wayne and other celebrities of the time greeted the troops upon their return and presented them plaques.

Today Strickland and Rose Bucher meet up occasionally, sharing a cup of coffee and reminiscing about the past.

They share their experiences and memories of that tragic year and memories of the happy days since their return.

Throughout Strickland’s naval career, he found himself back in Korea.

“It was a sort of self-healing, going back there, this time free,” he said.

In 1989, the crew members received the Prisoner of War Medals. Before then, the United States considered them detainees, because America and Korea were not at war during that time.

Although more than 40 years have past since the capture of the USS Pueblo, the memories of the crew members and their families still live on today.