They are the final names on the Vietnam wall

		They are the final names on the Vietnam wall. The final casualties of US involvement in South East Asia.
		On May 12, 1975 -- less than two weeks following the United States evacuation of Vietnam, the SS Mayaguez a cargo ship, was steaming off the coast of Cambodia when it was fired upon - boarded - and seized by Cambodian Communist forces – the Khmer Rouge.
1. President Ford		I felt that it was a violation of international law, and that we as a government had an obligation to get the crew and the ship back.
		Three days later, on May 15^th American forces were poised to launch a massive attack on a small island called Koh Tang. What they didn’t know was that they were about to invade the wrong island.
		The battle for Koh Tang is part of an international incident known as the Mayaguez Crisis. The following story is told by the people who there and contains never before seen secret footage and radio communications of the actual events.
		In the Spring of 1975, The SS Mayaguez a 500-foot - merchant ship of US registry routinely sails the volatile, war-torn waters off the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia.
		12 May 1975 Gulf of Thailand 2:40 PM
2. Ray Friedler		On this particular trip we left from Hong Kong and were headed to Sattahip Thailand.
3. Tom LeBue		I was on wheel watch steering the ship when we received a shot across our bow.
4. Jerry Myregard		I felt the vibration of the ship stop, so I went outside to see what the problem was.
		On the bridge Captain Charles Miller scribbles a hasty entry into the ships log …” May 12, 1975…1420 hours reduced to maneuvering speed, vessel challenged by gunboat and gunboat fires shots across starboard bow. 1421 Engines stop 1425 gunboat P128 comes along side”
5. Jerry Myregard		When I got outside I saw these Khmer Rouge soldiers coming aboard with black pajamas, bandoleers, automatic, weapons, rocket launchers and I knew just what was happening.
		12 May 1975 Washington DC 7:30 AM
6. President Ford		I was awakened on the morning of the 12th of May by Brent Scowcroft who said there were radio indications that an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez, had been seized in international waters.
7. Brent Scowcroft		I called both the CIA and then I called Henry Kissinger and he had heard the same report. So we mobilized and by 10:00 that morning we had a NSC meeting.
		The White House quickly issues a statement that the failure to release the crew will have the “most serious consequences.”
8. James Schlesinger		The reaction was we had to do something and had to do something dramatic.
9. Henry Kissinger		Having just evacuated Indochina we could not graduate to the point where American ships could be captured on the high seas
		During the meeting Director of the CIA William Colby briefs the National Security Council. Colby informs the president that the Mayaguez is being forced into the Cambodian harbor of Kompong Som and will be making port within the hour.
10. Henry Kissinger		The imminence of these American hostages arriving in Cambodia was something that provided a greater urgency to our decisions
		The president puts US forces in the Western Pacific on alert and orders a naval task force led by the aircraft carrier Coral Sea to proceed immediately to the Gulf of Thailand. Ford also orders the pentagon to conduct round the clock surveillance of Mayaguez. In this never before seen secret surveillance footage, the Mayaguez can be seen surrounded by Cambodian gunboats. She’s is located on the evening of May 12^th not in the port Kompong Som where the CIA reported, but at anchor off a small island in the Gulf of Thailand called Koh Tang.
		Very little is known about Koh Tang. It is a three-mile by two-mile island covered with dense jungle -- about 35 miles off the western coast of the Cambodian port of Kompong Som. The chance that the Americans had been taken off the ship and put on Koh Tang is encouraging. A rescue would be nearly impossible if the Mayaguez crew were taken to the Cambodian mainland.
Henry Kissinger		Everybody especially President Ford who was in the congress at the time remembered the Pueblo incident where the North Koreans captured an American ship and sort of humiliated the United States by not releasing the prisoners.
		But the fear in the White House goes well beyond the political implications of the Mayaguez.
11. Amb. Quinn		*The thing to keep in mind about the Khmer Rouge is they’re probably one of the three or four most brutal genocidal regimes the world has ever seen.*
12. Amb. Quinn		They ended up killing about two million out of seven million in the country in about four years
13. Henry Kissinger		*to leave the Americans in the hands of the Khmer Rouge was something we would not accept*
		On the diplomatic front, Ford is faced with a difficult situation -- How to negotiate with a country the US does not officially recognize.
		The Mayaguez crisis is becoming an exclamation point on one of the darkest chapters in US Foreign policy.
14. Ambassador Quinn		April 12th, 1975, the American Embassy in Phnom Penh is evacuated. Five days later, //, the Khmer Rouge march into Phnom Penh and evacuate the city. A million people taken, marched out into forced, new living arrangements in the countryside. Two weeks later, April 25th, Saigon, the American Embassy evacuation begins.
15. President Ford		We the United States had been literally kicked out of Saigon by the North Vietnamese
		The void left in South East Asian diplomatic channels leaves Ford few options.
16. President Ford		The best avenue to get our message to the Cambodians was through their friend, their ally the People’s Republic of China
		The message is simple can the Chinese contact the Khmer Rouge.
17. Henry Kissinger		The Chinese in Washington refused to accept the communication
		On the morning of May 13^th the CIA confirms Mayaguez is at anchor off Koh Tang. US aircraft observe Cambodian boats making trips between the ship and the island. Since none have gone to the mainland, the CIA concludes the Americans have been put onto Koh Tang. What they don’t know is the entire crew is being held on a fishing boat in the cove just east of the island.
18. Brent Scowcroft		We established a barrier, and air barrier between Koh Tang island and the mainland to prevent the crew from being taken to the mainland.
		On the evening of May 13^th Ford assembles the third meeting of the National Security Council. The news is not good. In Thailand a helicopter transporting Air Force security personnel for an anticipated military operation has crashed killing all 23 Americans onboard. This picture was taken moments before take off. The crisis has claimed its first American casualties. As Ford ponders the tragedy an urgent message is received from a pilot flying over the Mayaguez. Several boats are leaving Koh Tang and heading in the direction of the Cambodian mainland. The radio message is patched directly to the National Security Council meeting.
19. Brent Scowcroft		One of the pilots of the aircraft called in and said, "I have a boat here going to the mainland that looks like there are Caucasians on board, my orders are to stop it or sink it, what shall I do. "
20. Raymond Friedler		They did everything they could to stop us – to try keep the vessel from going to the main port.
21. Tom LeBue		On the way to Kompong Som we were buzzed by American planes and they dropped tear gas in the water.
22. Raymond Friedler		They shot the gun boats that were leading us, they shot those out of the water right away there was two that turned around and went on either side of us and as I turned around I could see them blowing them out of the water so there was only us left.
23. Brent Scowcroft		I actually talked to the pilot and told him not to sink that particular vessel and it turned out to be one with at least part of the crew on board.
		US planes track the boat to within sight of the mainland but are forced to turn back as they approach Cambodian airspace.
24. Raymond Friedler		We ended up in the port of Kompong Som where many people came down wearing black pajamas and the all had guns.
25. Jerry Myregard		We thought we were going to be paraded through the streets. That was actually the low point in the whole episode for us.
		But to the relief of the crew, and undetected by US intelligence… they are not taken off at Kompong Som, but moved again to the nearby island of Rong Som Lem.
		On the Morning of May 14th Ford calls the fourth and final meeting of the National Security council. The CIA reports that the boat, which made it to the Cambodian mainland, carried only part of the crew. And they have been taken into the countryside but no one knows where. They now believe the crew has been separated into three groups one on the mainland, one on Koh Tang, and one remaining aboard the Mayaguez. All three are wrong.
26. Henry Kissinger		Almost all the CIA briefings turned out to be inaccurate. Now my problem with that was not that they were inaccurate. But what was troublesome was the assurance of which they presented it, which always was wrong.
		Faulty intelligence has turned the crisis into a virtual shell game. Out of options Ford plays his final card.
27. President Ford		I ordered the Pentagon to take whatever action was required necessary to recapture the ship and to save the crew.
28. James Schlesinger		*The diplomatic maneuvers at that point were secondary. We believed quite clearly that only a display of force was going to bring the Cambodians to yield.*
		Ford sets a 24- hour deadline. If the crew is not released by the morning of May 15^th, contingents of the Navy, Air Force and Marines will conduct operation “Rescue”. Just after dawn two marine assault forces will simultaneously seize Koh Tang and the SS Mayaguez at anchor just North of the island. Navy and Air Force aircraft will support the operation as well as bomb-selected targets on the Cambodian Mainland.
		14 May 1975 U Tapao Airfield Thailand 7:00 PM
		By the evening of the 14th US forces are massing for the assault. A marine amphibious brigade is air lifted from Okinawa to U Tapao Thailand. As they arrive the Marine Commander assigned to assault Koh Tang Lt. Col. Randall Austin finds that he lacks even the most basic intelligence concerning his objective.
29. Austin		There were no maps there were no photos there was none of the normal kinds of basic information you would expect about an objective area.
30. Capt James Davis		so I offered my 35mm camera. I asked to send a staff sergeant to the PX to buy some film. With that//we, got aboard a Cessna twin and we headed for the island, which was around 190 miles from U Tapao.
31. Col Austin		We were taking photos out the window with a hand held camera at 4500 feet Its not the optimal in terms of gathering intelligence.
32. Capt James Davis		I was disappointed with the detail of the photographs. I did however see two small beaches. And with that being the only advantage I saw in the photograph, and in the tactical situation I knew I would have to land helicopters on two beaches simultaneously.
		The beaches Davis saw are on opposite sides of the Northern neck of Koh Tang. The island’s rocky terrain and dense jungle make landing anywhere else virtually impossible. The marines are told that the majority of the Americans are held on Koh Tang in a compound located directly between the two beaches. They are also told a skeleton crew is still being held aboard the Mayaguez.
33. Lt. James McDaniel		About midnight we started breaking out the ammunition. That was a unique experience.
34. Lt. Michael Cicere		One of the first things that impact you on a situation like that if this is the real thing is when we started handing out grenades.
		What the Marines don’t know is that the critical intelligence they need arrives only seconds before Capt. Davis boards his helicopter.
35. Capt James Davis		a Staff Sergeant walked up to me and he said, “ Captain, here are your aerial photos. “ These obviously were photos taken by, I assume, a U2, or any other sophisticated air platform.
36. GSGT Lester McNemar		It showed barracks, it showed – looked like AA positions - round, heavily fortified AA positions. You seen some bunkers and trenches.
37. Capt. James Davis		Within minutes, if not seconds, one of the pilots said, “ Saddle up, we’re going in! “ At that point and time, I looked over at Gunnery Sgt. McNemar, and I said, “ Gunny, I ‘m not even going to show these photos to the troops. We don’t have time. But I think we’re in for a world of trouble.”
		At 4:15 AM on May 15^th 1975, eleven Air Force helicopters carrying the two assault forces leave U Tapao, Thailand. Three choppers will drop a contingent of 1^st Battalion 4^th Marines on the USS Harold E. Holt for a ship-to-ship assault of the Mayaguez. The eight remaining helicopters head straight for Koh Tang.
38. Michael Cicere		The marines were quiet; they were obviously very tense when I gave them their briefing. I tried to calm them as much as I possible could, although, you know, I was acting myself, because I was as scared as anybody else not knowing what we are going to run into.
		As flight operations begin on the USS Coral Sea, US intelligence picks up a radio broadcast from inside Cambodia.
39. Henry Kissinger 40. President Ford		The Cambodians issued a statement, which strongly implied that the hostages would be released. But they issued that on the open radio, they did not communicate it to us, through a government, or through any other means that they might have available. We had to have some definitive answer from the Cambodian government otherwise I had no choice
		While the speech is being translated, Khmer authorities on the island of Rong Sam Lem – some 35 miles from Koh Tang release the crew of the Mayaguez placing them back on the fishing boat.
41. Raymond Friedler		We were being escorted by a Khmer Rouge PT boat, finally they waved at us peeled off and we realized that we were being released.
		Nearly three hours will pass before anyone knows the Americans have been freed.
		15 May 1975 Just North of Koh Tang 6:10 AM
		As the USS Holt steams toward the Mayaguez lookouts spot Khmer guards on her deck armed with AK-47s. In preparation for the assault, Naval aircraft drop tear gas on the Mayaguez. Seconds later the destroyer pulls along side and the Marines storm over the ship’s rail. Moving deck to deck the Marines take the ship without firing a shot. Mayaguez is empty. In the ships galley a pot of warm rice and some tea are testament to the haste in which the Cambodian guards have fled.
		As the fishing boat carrying the freed American’s makes its way toward the Mayaguez the Marines approach Koh Tang.
		The plan for the siege is simple. The Eastern zone is nearest to the Cambodian compound where the Marines still believe some of the crew is held. With units landing on the East beach and across the island on the West Beach the Marines plan to encircle the Cambodians.
42. Lt James McDaniel		Over the radio, I could hear that they had identified some enemy patrol boats below us that started to shoot up.
43. Capt. Davis		I looked down and I saw an orange glow below the helicopter. I had no idea what our altitude was or where our position was in relation to the island. But the orange glow, I knew it was ground fire
		Although the helicopters are well out of reach of the Cambodian fire. Their approach to Koh Tang is no longer a secret.
44. Rot Lang		We could hear the aircraft as they flew in from the Gulf. We contacted the commanders of regiments and battalions and told them that the situation was not good and that we heard the sound of many planes. The commanders ordered that all protecting forces around the island to prepare for war.
45. Mao Run		Having just liberated Phnom Penh our forces were fresh and new. They had not forgotten their fighting tactics…they were all well prepared and had not lost their courageous spirit.
		15 May 1975 Koh Tang West Beach Landing 6:15 AM
46. Lt. James McDaniel		The sun was just starting to creep over the horizon and it’s very dramatic. It’s black and then all of a sudden there’s just some faint sunlight and then all of a sudden the sun comes up and everything is blazing in light.
		Coming in low across the water the first two choppers approach the Western zone. As they attempt to land the tree line erupts in a barrage of automatic weapons fire.
47. Lt. James McDaniel		You could see a bullet puncture the side of the helicopter. And it seemed like it was in slow motion as it would come through the skin of the helicopter
		As McDaniel’s Platoon exits the aircraft, they become the targets.
48. Lt James McDaniel		Staff Sergeant Salinas led the charge off of the helicopter and as he walked off onto the rocks. I could see bullets bouncing off the rocks to either side of him
		Sitting on the beach McDaniel’s helicopter takes punishing hits. Having lost an engine the pilot nurses the chopper out over the water.
49. GSGT Lester McNemar		I see the first helicopter in the western zone going out about 500 to 600 yards out into the ocean to the north end of the island, get down in the water, sat there for like 2 seconds, flipped over and sank.
		The helicopter carrying Gunnery Sergeant McNemar and Capt. Davis – then circles back and attempts to insert its Marines.
50. Capt. James Davis		I was hit with something in the face and it turned me a flip. I looked to my left, and the crew chief/ gunner on the gun had been hit also.
		Heavy machine gun fire rakes down the length of the chopper.
51. Capt. Davis		The chopper was badly damaged, there was hydraulic fluid, and you could smell fuel
52. Gunny McNemar		The pilot decided to abort and head to the mainland, back to Thailand or U Tapao, we didn’t know where we were going.
		Across the island the welcome for the Choppers on the East beach is even worse.
		May 15 1975 Koh Tang East Beach Landing 6:21 AM
53. Maj. Al Corson		We were doing a high-speed ingress, which is the way you want to go in to minimize your exposure time.
54. Moa Run		4 or 5 helicopters approached the island. They were not shooting, but we knew we were in a state of war since they already bombed our boats.
55. Lt. Cicere		I stood up and looked out the right door to assess what was happening and as we started to make our approach I could see over to the other side of the island So I started thinking to myself maybe this is not maybe going along to the plan.
56. JD Harston		As we approached and started the transition from our forward flight as it into a side maneuver we started taking ground fire Randy opened up fro the left side and Rich Vandegeer punched his m16 out the side window vent
57. Terry Tonkin		Just as we started to make our turn to the beach, I started to the aft ramp of the aircraft, to exit when we landed. And as I was about half way through the aircraft, there was a loud noise And obviously we’ve been hit.
58. Mike Cicere		I heard an explosion and I looked out the door to the left and I could see knife 3-1 completely engulfed in flames at that point and the helicopter just spinning madly around
59. Maj. Corson		I lost control completely of the helicopter. We completed part of the turn then we impacted the water.
60. Terry Tonkin		I really don’t remember anything between that loud explosion and a few moments later when I wake up or became conscious, in about a foot of water with the aircraft just to my right, burning furiously.
		Lt. Tonkin and several crewmembers are blown out of the aircraft by the force of the explosion. With the fire spreading many are still trapped inside.
61. JD Harston		The marines were in quite a bit disarray in the back trying to get out the helicopter
62. Terry Tonkin		See Marines trying to push through the Plexiglas windows on the side of the aircraft
63. JD Harston		I yelled at a bunch of them to follow me out from underneath the right gun there at the doorway
64. Terry Tonkin		I heard one of the air force crew chiefs to my side and he already had a survival radio out and was calling a mayday, mayday,
65. JD Harston		The pilot was still in there. And really with all the shock and every thing, Al Corson was still trying to fly the helicopter.
66. Maj. Corson		The next thing I remember is Sergeant Harston coming to my side window in the helicopter.
67. JD Harston		I yelled at him to get out and he literally undid himself, stepped out over the rotor pedals right into the water. There was just absolutely no front on the helicopter. The co-pilot Rich Vandegeer was slumped over in his harnesses
68. Maj. Corson		When I looked at Lt Vandegeer he was hanging in his harness… he was hanging in his harness just forward his head down hanging over the control stick and he was obviously dead and shortly there after he caught on fire.
		Trailing just behind the greeting for the second helicopter into the Eastern zone is every bit as fierce.
		A direct hit completely severs the helicopters tail section.
69. Moa Run		We shot down two of the helicopters, one caught fire and fell into the water and the other fell along the beach.
70. Lt. Cicere		Once we hit the deck people collected themselves and made and immediately b-lined out of that helicopter and into the tree line.
		Lt. Cicere and 3^rd Platoon are pined down and cut off. Only minutes into the landing, four of the eight helicopters are damaged or destroyed and 14 Marines and Air force crewmen lay dead.
71. Lt. Cicere		With one helicopter burning out in the water just to the south of us and the carcass of what is left of our helicopter sitting fouling the landing zone it became apparent very quickly that no one else was going to land in there…
		Now the focus of the Khmer Rouge guns shifts to the survivors in the water.
72. Maj. Corson		From the time we exited we were all under small arms fire and automatic weapons fire. The only option that we had was to try to get away from that ground fire which meant going out.
73. JD Harston		Everyone else took their helmets off – and I didn’t, and I do not know why I didn’t I just didn’t and I was swimming, facing the Island dog paddling backwards, with these guys, the two marines actually hanging onto my shoulders on my back. And a round smack me right between the eyes about an inch above where the helmet comes right across, and drove me back into the water, and it was the guys who I had pulled that now pulled me out because they had to drag me out from where it drove me back in the water, and it split my helmet right in two.
		Koh Tang West Beach 8:40 AM
		After making repeated attempts to land the helicopter carrying the command unit with Lt. Col. Randall Austin is forced to unload nearly a mile South of the West beach.
		By 10:00 o’clock the Marines find themselves divided into three groups, separated by dense jungle and rugged terrain. With the command unit isolated the leadership of the main assault force falls into the hands two 2^nd Lieutenants -- with no combat experience.
74. Lt. McDaniel		*Col. Austin comes over the radio and wants a group of marines come down and linkup with his position.*
75. Col. Austin		We were not what you would call a potent fighting force, not the kind of group that you want to be isolated with in a situation like that.
76. Lt. McDaniel		He was the command group and they only had 4 rifles among their group.
		Lt. McDaniel selects 14 Marines and heads South to link up with Austin.
77. Lt. McDaniel		All of a sudden there were 3 or 4 hand grenades that went off in the middle of us. My squad leader Lance Corporal Loney was immediately killed.
78. Rot Leng		We opened fire with our rifles against the troops. During the attack the leader of the American troops was wounded.
		There was another marine that was directly in front of me and then there was another marine that was directly behind me. Both those two marines were severely wounded.
79. Rot Leng		We had plenty of ammunition and strength and our forces attacked fiercely
80. Lt. McDaniel		We stop trying to fire back at them because every time we do there is this thick counter fire from them. Things are quiet for a second and out folks, some of our folks are very upset to the point of being hysterical some of them start crying out for God, for Jesus to come and help. It was a very intense moment and the enemy was all around us and they could here us. They could not understand English but they could understand the emotion that was being expressed in our voices. They started laughing and it was a very eerie feeling because they were taking pleasure in hearing the emotion in our voices.
		As McDanial’s platoon is fighting for their lives, across the island search and rescue Helicopters are attempting recovery of the Marines on the East beach.
		East Beach Koh Tang
81. Lt. Cicere		All of a sudden this helicopter shows up When they came in, it was really a big surprise. They got down on the deck. And when they did, right even when they were coming in, it was like the fourth of July.
		Engulfed in flames the helicopter is forced to abort the rescue attempt.
		In the water below the survivors of Major Corson’s helicopter have been swimming for more than three hours.
82. JD Harston		I thought the helicopters were going to come back around and pick us up right quick but apparently when they saw us go down, they didn’t think there would be any survivors from the crash so they didn’t even make an attempt.
83. Lt. Tonkin		After three hours or so we were getting tire-der, and tired-er and just using whatever energy we could to keep trying to move away from the island.
		West Beach 10:30 AM
84. Lt. McDaniel		Time started to tick by and then I realized that I had these hand grenades in my pockets I couldn’t fire back with my rifle but I could at least throw these hand grenades back at them
		The volley of grenades momentarily silences the Cambodian guns and Lt. McDaniel make his withdrawal.
		The Marines work their way out of the killing zone and back to their lines.
85. Col. Austin		At that point we realized that probably wasn’t feasibly for them to push the perimeter very much towards us and we had, in fact, to move towards them.
		East Beach 10:45 AM
		Nearly four hours after the crash of the helicopters on the East beach, Major Corson, Lt. Tonkin, Sgt. Harston and the remaining survivors (many wounded and severely burned) are pulled out of the water and taken to the USS Wilson.