Local area resident Dr. Anthony Wells was uniquely honored in May 2013 by the crew of the US Navy's most decorated warship, the USS LIBERTY, the spy ship that was attacked on June 8, 1967 during the Arab-Israeli War. Liberty's commanding officer was awarded the Medal of Honor, and her crew received two Navy Crosses, several Silver Stars and 205 Purple hearts. Of her crew 34 were killed and 171 wounded. Tony Wells was made an Honorary Crewman at a special ceremony in Savannah, Georgia at the annual gathering of the USS Liberty Veterans Association and the US Navy Cryptologic Veterans Association. His Plaque reads: "The Membership of the USS Liberty Veterans Association (LVA) hereby grants Doctor Anthony Wells all rights and privileges as honorary crewman for unselfish and exemplary actions in the pursuit of exposing the true story of the June 8, 1967 Israeli deliberate attack on the USS Liberty. Presented by: The LVA board of directors on May 26, 2013".

In the mid 1970s Dr. Wells was appointed the lead intelligence operations specialist to examine various Soviet Union activities relating to the 1967 June War at an all source highly classified level. This and subsequent work, including unclassified reports that were released by the US government, led to him being invited to join the Board of Directors of the USS Liberty Alliance, a distinguished body that was chaired by the late Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of Naval Operations, Marine Corps General Ray Davis, who won the Medal of Honor at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, Ambassador James Akins, former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, former Judge Advocate General of the US Navy (he investigated the attack originally at the direction of Admiral John McCain, Commander-in-Chief US Navy Europe in 1967, and father of Senator John McCain), Rear Admiral Clarence Hill, former commanding officer of the carrier USS INDEPENDENCE, and several other distinguished luminaries. Wells' membership of this Board over several decades, and his services to the Liberty's cause via several extensive pieces of research and intelligence activities led to his unique recognition by the USS Liberty crew.

Several surviving members of the crew attended the presentation, including retired Commander David Lewis, the senior Navy cryptologist on board Liberty at the time of the attack, leading the joint US Navy-National Security Agency team, and who was severely injured during the attack, working in one of the special spaces when an Israeli torpedo exploded in his space, killing all there, except him. In an interview Wells said that he was overwhelmed to have been honored in this way. He mentioned that with Thomas Schaaf, a retired distinguished US Naval Aviator and Liberty Alliance Board member, he had led the development of a unique USS Liberty Document Center that contains hitherto unpublished records, including declassified documents such as CIA Report from Tel Aviv. The Document Center will be shortly placed on the worldwide web for the use by scholars, analysts, historians and Middle East specialists. He also said that in the Middle East the past is always prologue – the current situation in Syria and increasing Russian involvement, is reminiscent of the events of 1967. He mentioned that local resident Marilyn Bigalow's brother was killed on board USS LIBERTY, and that a recent book by James Scott, whose father survived the attack, entitled: The Attack on the Liberty – The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly Assault on a US Spy Ship, is well worth the read. He concluded with a knowing smile that his Tomato Drive-In on The Plains Road is open – please come and pick, weigh and pay – at $2 a pound they are wonderful. A far cry, he added, from the intense action, courage, and endurance of the events of June 8, 1967.