President Gerald R. Ford is Grateful for a Senator’s Support in the Mayaguez Incident, One of the Major Events in Ford’s Presidency

“We attempted to achieve the return of the ship and its crew through diplomatic channels. When no response came from the new Communist Government in Phnom Penh, I found it necessary to take strong military action.”

 

This is considered as the last military action in the Vietnam War

The fall of Saigon in April 1975 was nearly contemporaneous with the installation of another communist government in the region – that of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. A brief operation the next month between the United States and Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia – the Mayaguez incident – stemming from a hostage situation, would be the final combat action of the Vietnam War.

On May 12, 1975, a Khmer Rouge patrol boat approached the U.S.-registered container ship SS Mayaguez near the uninhabited Cambodian island of Poulo Wai. The communist gunboat forced the Mayaguez to stop via warning shots, and Khmer Rouge fighters then boarded the American vessel. The U.S. and the Khmer Rouge used different measures for how far territorial waters extended. Claiming that the Mayaguez had been sailing in Cambodian waters, the Cambodians seized the ship and took its captain and 39 crew members hostage. SOS signals sent from the Mayaguez and an initial U.S. report on the situation reached Washington, D.C. by the afternoon of May 12.

The next day, U.S. Navy P-3 reconnaissance aircraft located the Mayaguez, which had been moved to Koh Tang, an island around 30 miles from the Cambodian mainland. Plans for a U.S. rescue operation were immediately put into motion, and Koh Tang was put under constant surveillance, with the resultant sinking of Khmer Rouge patrol boats that fired on U.S. aircraft. A two-pronged rescue operation was developed: U.S. Marine units would board the Mayaguez with support from the frigate USS Harold E. Holt, while a separate U.S. Marine detachment would undertake an armed assault on Koh Tang. Both actions would begin early on the morning of May 15.

The boarding operation was a success, but U.S. personnel quickly discovered that the Mayaguez had been abandoned. U.S. attention shifted to the landing operations on Koh Tang, where Khmer resistance was proving to be much stiffer than anticipated. Three of the five helicopters in the initial U.S. landing were shot down, with two crashing on the northeastern beach of the island and one crashing into the ocean around a mile offshore. By the time the first assault wave was completed, eight of the nine U.S. helicopters had been destroyed or disabled, but 131 Marines and 5 USAF crewmen had been successfully landed on Koh Tang.

Around three hours after the operation had begun, the situation with regards to the hostages from the Mayaguez developed rapidly. A fishing boat waving a white flag approached Koh Tang and was intercepted by the destroyer USS Henry B. Wilson. Aboard was the crew of the Mayaguez; the ship’s captain reported that the Khmer Rouge moved them to another island the previous day, briefly interrogated them, and then freed them. The crew’s captors hoped that this would encourage the U.S. to call off bombing runs on ports and naval bases on the Cambodian mainland, which began on the morning of the 15th.

Typed letter signed on White House letterhead, Washington, May 21, 1975, to U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia. “In looking through the Congressional Record of May 15, I note that you had issued your statements on May 13 and May 14 dealing with the SS MAYAGUEZ seizure. As you know, we attempted to achieve the return of the ship and its crew through diplomatic channels. When no response came from the new Communist Government in Phnom Penh, I found it necessary to take strong military action. Your second statement in support of that action is deeply appreciated.”

This is our first letter of Ford about this incident. It is interesting to see that Ford gives his rationale for his actions, hoping to gain support in the Senate.