Mayaguez Incident (1975)

Mayaguez Incident (1975). Hillsborough County Veterans Memorial Park. , A remnant of U.S. forces separated from South Vietnam in April 1975 in what President Gerald Ford termed a “humiliating withdrawal." U.S military involvement in southeast Asia had officially said it wasn’t over yet. In what many consider to be the final battle of the Vietnam War, the Mayaguez Incident remains in dispute. , , On May 12, 1975, gunboats of the Cambodian Navy seized the American merchant ship, SS Mayaguez, in international waters off Cambodia's coast. The ship was being towed to Kompong Som on the Cambodian mainland when word reached the White House. President Ford was determined that the situation not be allowed to deteriorate into another drawn-out Pueblo incident. In addition, it was believed important to counter a growing perception among U.S. friends and adversaries that America was "a helpless giant” and an erratic ally lacking determination. , , The U.S. response to the seizure would be a military operation executed by an ad hoc force of airmen, marines, and sailors. The U.S. had no diplomatic relations with the Khmer Rouge, which had taken control of Cambodia in previous wars. U.S. forces stationed in neighboring Thailand were numerically insufficient for ground action against Cambodia, and no U.S. warships were in the district. , , Eighteen marines and airmen were killed or missing in the assault and withdrawal from Kho-Tang. Twenty-three others were killed in a helicopter crash en route from Hakhon Phanom to U-Tapao, but the objectives of operation were achieved. The Mayaguez and its crew had been rescued, though at high cost.