12 - Boston
At 2:00 a.m. on the morning the ships were to leave Boston Harbor, two rocket propelled grenades dashed from the deck of the “Iliad” and three from the “Ionian Star,” turning both Coast Guard 38-footers into flaming wrecks that quickly sank to the bottom of the harbor, killing all ten crewpersons on board the two boats.
Dozens of small boats, Boston Whalers used for water skiing, cabin cruisers used for fishing and day trips, even canoes from the Charles River, dashed out from the nearby shore. The boats filled with people jumping into the water from the ships’ decks. Once loaded with wet passengers, the small boats disappeared into the darkness.
Fireboats speeding out from the inner harbor to help the Coast Guard vessels ignored the dozens of small boats, which the firefighters assumed were shore side residents out to search for survivors.
By dawn, the “Iliad” and the “Ionian Star” were empty, even their crews deciding perhaps this was a good time to look up their relatives in Chicago.
Newspaper accounts of the attack on the Coast Guard boats and the escape of the refugees used a new phrase to define America’s latest enemy.
“JEWISH TERRORISTS KILL 10 ON COAST GUARD SHIPS, PASSENGERS ESCAPE INTO HIDING,” the Boston Globe headline said.
“JEWS KILL AMERICANS,” was the Boston Herald front page, implying there was a difference between the two groups.