In 1968, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo & its crew. During their detainment, the crew subtly flipped the bird to the camera in nearly every photo that North Korea released. If their captors ever asked about it, they told them it was a “Hawaiian Good Luck sign”, a cousin of the “Hang Loose” sign
by tyrion2024
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>[Occasionally, the men were the audience](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/north-korean-officials-had-no-idea-what-their-hostages-were-signaling-in-this-photo). One day in June, the group was assembled to watch propaganda films. One was about the North Korean soccer team’s visit to London, another about the body of a U.S. soldier being returned to officials. In both films, something extraordinary happened: Someone flipped the cameraman off. In both instances, it seemed clear that the gesture didn’t translate; their captors didn’t realize that they were being insulted, and so the action was not edited out of the reels.
So began The Digit Affair.
“The finger became an integral part of our anti-propaganda campaign,” wrote Russell. “Any time a camera appeared, so did the fingers.”
You see it in a shot of three bored looking men, two of them casually propping their heads up by clearly extended middle fingers. In a group shot of the men seated in two rows, as if for a school photo, a man in the front looks directly into the camera, his hands folded in his lap, and his top middle finger popped out. In another, a fellow looks like he’s chewing his fingernail—on his middle finger.
If their captors ever noticed the gesture, they had a story prepared: It was a “Hawaiian Good Luck sign,” a cousin of the “Hang Loose” sign, comprised of thumb and pinky extended.
This wasn’t the only way the crew defied their captors. In fact it was just one of several methods they had for coping with their plight through jokes. The finger was part of a larger campaign that included embedding in-jokes in forced confessions and letters home, giving their captors mocking nicknames, and even a bawdy poem.
“It could be considered pretty sick humor,” said crewmember Bob Chicca in a *Westword* story detailing the way the Pueblo men launched a laughter offense. “It helped us survive and kept morale up. For that little period of time, we were in charge of our own lives.”
After the North Koreans finally found out the truth, the men were beaten
Why does the guy on the bottom right look like Sean Astin
What the US did to North Korea should be considered a genocide by anyone who learns about it. They dropped more bombs on it than in were dropped in all of world war two, targeting civilians and farmland. All to overturn a democratic decision made by the people of Korea that the US disagreed with.
This context should change the way you view this image. They go from strong willed US servicemen to Auschwitz prison guards pretty quick.
Dude on the bottom left looks like Timothy McVeigh (OKC bomber)
North Korea still has the ship
Is this where the Rick n Morty bit came from?
🤙