No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1975.

Earl of Mercia · Post by **Earl of Mercia** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:06 pm

Memories of the final days of the Vietnam War are often triggered by infamous photographs of the hectic evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Saigon, a day before South Vietnam’s surrender in late April 1975. The image of a North Vietnamese tank crashing through the wrought-iron gate of Independence Palace is symbolic of the end to U.S. military presence in the region.

Yet it was on a small, rock-fringed Cambodian island that the Americans fought their final mishandled battle of the generation-defining war.

Some 50 kilometres off the coast of Sihanoukville sits tiny Koh Tang, its coral-sand beaches bloodstained from the offensive presence of the Khmer Rouge militias that once patrolled it.

The isle’s rarely used English name, Legend Island, suits the stories that followed the Mayaguez incident, the only ground combat between U.S. forces and the Khmer Rouge. It took place on Koh Tang from 12 to 15 May 1975, a mere two weeks after the fall of Saigon, following the capture of an American merchant vessel in disputed waters.

Nearly five decades later, the 18 U.S. servicemen presumed to have died on Koh Tang – three of whose remains have never been recovered – have become an unfinished priority for a U.S. agency dedicated to that task. Three of the 18 were left behind following the battle. Finding them, and another 30 American soldiers lost in Cambodia during the spillover from the war in Vietnam, has fallen to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Full article :
https://focus-cambodia.com/article/maya ... etnam-war/

P.S. I didn’t know the American Ambassador to Cambodia was called Patrick Murphy,does Paddy double up as the Ireland Ambassador also?

Earl of Mercia · Post by **Earl of Mercia** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:18 pm

Part of it reads like a clip from the Oliver Stone movie Platoon,where Willem Defoe’s Sergeant Elias is trying to make it back to the Huey helicopter after being shot multiple times by the evil Sergeant Barnes played brilliantly by Tom Berenger :

“Only some of the key personnel carried radios and had call signs during the battle,” Williamson said. “But these guys were a machine gun team: no radios, no call signs and no real training (if any) in their use. So finding a radio on the island doesn’t connect to any of the missing personnel, except that someone might have come across equipment that was left or lost in the battle,” he said.

Yet former Air Force Staff Sergeant Robert Velie claimed that as the last helicopter was leaving Koh Tang island, he received a radio transmission from one of the missing Marines, asking when the next chopper was coming back for them. Velie and his team were coordinating the battle from aboard the EC-130E Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center. Initially thinking it might be a trick, Velie requested an authentication code, and the Marine provided the correct response.

Kung-fu Hillbilly · Post by **Kung-fu Hillbilly** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:22 pm

cambodian-culture-and-language/leave-ma ... 20853.html

Earl of Mercia · Post by **Earl of Mercia** » Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:16 am

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:22 pm cambodian-culture-and-language/leave-ma ... 20853.html

Congratulations on posting a completely different article on the same subject five years ago,is nobody allowed to broach the subject ever again or something?

Kung-fu Hillbilly · Post by **Kung-fu Hillbilly** » Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:25 am

Earl of Mercia wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:16 am
Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:22 pm cambodian-culture-and-language/leave-ma ... 20853.html
Congratulations on posting a completely different article on the same subject five years ago,is nobody allowed to broach the subject ever again or something?

It's not that at all. The link pertains to the subject with further reading being presented by members here who know a great deal about the incident, and other information about the event for anyone who would like to search more on the topic.

It's kinda, like, ya know, helping people.

oldfatbarang · Post by **oldfatbarang** » Tue Dec 26, 2023 3:55 am

I remember hearing the news on that incident back then.It was a disaster.Our politicians were so afraid of getting involved in anything in S.E. Asia after Vietnam fell they were hopelessly inept at conducting any military operation in that area.I have been on the sharp end of the stick and almost abandoned by an officer that seemed to have developed the attitude that it is better to do nothing then do something that could turn out wrong.I worked in long range recon and have had officers in the chain of command wait way to long to send support aircraft to extract us and was once told that if the situation is that bad consider the idea of surrender..It really sucks to be left hanging and I can just imagine how terrible the young marines in Koh Tang must have felt when they realized that their officers were unwilling to do what ever was needed to get them out.I spent several years in combat in the Vietnam war and learned that I could not rely on the officers assigned to coordinate our supplies,and aviation support.Some would do what ever was needede to get it done,some wouldn't.The one's that wouldn;t were generally the ones that felt that the current political agenda was more important than the mission.That is what happened to the men who were left behind in KohTang.The overall operation commander on the scene placed his career ahead of his men's lives.Otherwise he would have went back in after them.The upper chain of command is often influenced more by the current political situation than the military situation.I do not hate officers I have known many good ones.However usually the bad ones seem to get into a situation that puts them in the wrong place at the wrong time and they make a mess out of things.The people that left those marines to die were able to retire with full benefits.I know someone who was involved in that mess who was a marine officer at the time.He resigned his commission and left the marine corps after that and went onto the real estate business.He still feels ashamed of our military and our government.

Earl of Mercia · Post by **Earl of Mercia** » Tue Dec 26, 2023 5:26 am

oldfatbarang wrote: ↑Tue Dec 26, 2023 3:55 am I remember hearing the news on that incident back then.It was a disaster.Our politicians were so afraid of getting involved in anything in S.E. Asia after Vietnam fell they were hopelessly inept at conducting any military operation in that area.I have been on the sharp end of the stick and almost abandoned by an officer that seemed to have developed the attitude that it is better to do nothing then do something that could turn out wrong.I worked in long range recon and have had officers in the chain of command wait way to long to send support aircraft to extract us and was once told that if the situation is that bad consider the idea of surrender..It really sucks to be left hanging and I can just imagine how terrible the young marines in Koh Tang must have felt when they realized that their officers were unwilling to do what ever was needed to get them out.I spent several years in combat in the Vietnam war and learned that I could not rely on the officers assigned to coordinate our supplies,and aviation support.Some would do what ever was needede to get it done,some wouldn't.The one's that wouldn;t were generally the ones that felt that the current political agenda was more important than the mission.That is what happened to the men who were left behind in KohTang.The overall operation commander on the scene placed his career ahead of his men's lives.Otherwise he would have went back in after them.The upper chain of command is often influenced more by the current political situation than the military situation.I do not hate officers I have known many good ones.However usually the bad ones seem to get into a situation that puts them in the wrong place at the wrong time and they make a mess out of things.The people that left those marines to die were able to retire with full benefits.I know someone who was involved in that mess who was a marine officer at the time.He resigned his commission and left the marine corps after that and went onto the real estate business.He still feels ashamed of our military and our government.

Thanks for the firsthand insight as to what happened in similar scenarios to this,the thing that really gets me is that these poor guys were left in the hands of the bloodthirsty Khmer Rouge,not some occupying army playing by the Geneva Convention?

The American government must have known that their fate was sealed and that they would be summarily executed,yet still chose to stand by and do nothing I just cannot square that circle in my mind imagine how they must have felt knowing quite clearly how they would meet their fateful end?

willyhilly · Post by **willyhilly** » Tue Dec 26, 2023 1:59 pm

Marine motto is to never leave anyone behind. Unfortunately here they did. The exercise was largely political. President Ford needed a win and freeing the ship was seen as a win. I think another 18 Marines died in a helicopter crash in Thailand on the way.
There is a board member who has been there with the body recovery team.

newkidontheblock · Post by **newkidontheblock** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 8:54 am

Just recently SF forces in Niger were hung out to dry in an operation that went bad.

So unfortunately, the military doesn’t always learn from mistakes.

Felgerkarb · Post by **Felgerkarb** » Tue Jan 23, 2024 12:21 am

willyhilly wrote: ↑Tue Dec 26, 2023 1:59 pm Marine motto is to never leave anyone behind. Unfortunately here they did. The exercise was largely political. President Ford needed a win and freeing the ship was seen as a win. I think another 18 Marines died in a helicopter crash in Thailand on the way.
There is a board member who has been there with the body recovery team.

Yup.

No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1975.

No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1975.

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

Re: No Man Left Behind-The Mayaguez Incident/Battle of Koh Tang a fascinating story from just after the fall of Saigon 1

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