3 Left Behind - The Mayaguez incident!

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TheGreenAnger
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3 Left Behind - The Mayaguez incident!

#1 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Sep 15, 2022 4:58 am

I was not aware of this rescue attempt until recently!

The Mayaguez Incident

MayIncident.JPG
The Mayaguez incident took place between Kampuchea (now Cambodia) and the United States from 12 to 15 May 1975, less than a month after the Khmer Rouge took control of the capital Phnom Penh ousting the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic. After the Khmer Rouge seized the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez in a disputed maritime area, the U.S. mounted a hastily-prepared rescue operation. U.S. Marines recaptured the ship and attacked the island of Koh Tang where it was believed that the crew were being held as hostages.

Encountering stronger than expected defences on Koh Tang, three United States Air Force helicopters were destroyed during the initial assault and the Marines fought a desperate day-long battle with the Khmer Rouge before being evacuated. The Mayaguez's crew were released unharmed by the Khmer Rouge shortly after the attack on Koh Tang began. It was the last battle of the Vietnam War and the names of the Americans killed, including three Marines left behind on Koh Tang after the battle and subsequently executed by the Khmer Rouge, are the last names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stori ... -incident/
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: 3 Left Behind - The Mayaguez incident!

#2 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Sep 15, 2022 5:21 am

Well worth a read...

A complex operation that was bedeviled by mistakes, based upon poor intelligence, political mistrust, and inter service miscommunication from the top of the chain of command downwards and resulted in multiple casualties alongside extreme bravery under fire by the services involved.
The final 41 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall represent 25 Air Force pilots and crew, 2 Navy corpsmen, and 14 Marines; these were the men killed in the operation to rescue the crew of the Mayaguez. Of these, 23 Air Force personnel were lost in a helicopter crash in Thailand in preparation for the rescue. The remaining 18 service members lost their lives on and around the island of Koh Tang. The DPAA and its predecessor organizations, including the JTF-FA and JPAC, conducted multiple missions to Koh Tang and the Cambodian mainland to search for further information on these 18 men. These include the first examination of the three downed helicopters that remained on and around the island and interviews with surviving Khmer Rouge in 1992, and trips in 2001 and 2008 that discovered burial sites. Remains were successfully identified and repatriated in 2000 and 2012. As of 2018, five service members from the Mayaguez incident remain unaccounted for.
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpa ... InMayaguez


Chun.JPG
Chun.JPG (31.38 KiB) Viewed 254 times
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

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