Monday, May 15, 2017, will mark the 42nd anniversary of an oft forgotten event in both Marine Corps and U.S. military history. But, it will not be forgotten by the hundreds of Marines, Sailors and Airmen who participated in the rescue of the U.S. container ship S.S. Mayaguez and the battle fought on Koh Tang, an island off the Cambodian mainland, for the release of the ship and her crew. It is not my intent in this posting to recite the entire story because it is too long, many books and articles have been written about the operation and are available to anyone who wishes to delve deeper into it. I would suggest to start at www.kohtang.com which is the web site for the Koh Tang/Mayaguez Veterans Organization. My intent today is just to make it known and ask that everyone take a moment on Monday to remember those 41 servicemen who sacrificed their lives to rescue 41 the merchant sailors of the S.S. Mayaguez, Here’s the story in a nut-shell: On 12 May 1975 the SS Mayaguez was captured by Cambodian Khmer Rouge pirates and taken to Koh Tang (island), Aircraft from Thailand and the Philippines responded to ascertain the situation. On 13 May 1975 2nd Battalion/9th Marines (WestPac Air Contingent Battalion) we alerted, pulled from the field in NTA & Kin Blue on Okinawa, during monsoon rains, back to Camp Schwab for deployment to Royal Thai NAS U-Tapao, Thailand. At the same time USS Coral Sea, USS Wilson and USS Holt were diverted to the Gulf of Siam (Thailand). At U-Tapao, CH/HH-53 helicopters from the Air Force 40th ARRS and 21st SOS squadrons rendezvoused to provide lift from U-Tapao to Koh Tang, about 180 miles. During this rendezvous, one of the choppers crashed killing 23 Airmen. The morning of May 15, 1975 the Marines of 2/9 assaulted Koh Tang, while a detachment from Delta 1/4 landed aboard the USS Holt and cross-decked to the SS Mayaguez. It was a massacre on the island due to poor intelligence which led us to believe that there were only about 20 irregulars on the island instead of the 200+ battle hardened Khmer Rouge regulars with heavy armament. USS Holt towed SS Mayaguez from the island, while USS Wilson picked up the crew who had been released by the Cambodians. Getting off the island was now the problem, with so many aircraft damaged and destroyed during the insertion. Final extraction from West Beach was not accomplished until after dark that evening. Marines of 2/9 were scattered between all three ships and the final muster brought a shocking realization. A three man MG crew, as well as bodies from the days combat had been left on the island. This was a direct violation of the adage that Marines never leave their brothers behind. However, regardless of how much we begged the Admiral aboard the Coral Sea to let us return to the island, our requests fell on deaf ears due to the geopolitical situation at the time. Most of their remains have now been recovered and are buried in their hometowns or Arlington National Cemetery. There is still much controversy about the remains of the 3 man MG crew which may have been taken to mainland Cambodia. The Koh Tang/Mayaguez Veterans Organization continues to monitor and do what it can to find out what happened to our brothers. “All Gave Some, 41 Gave All” Semper Fi, Edd Prothro, MSgt USMC Ret.
Sgt Grit wants to hear from you! Leave your comments below or Submit your own Story !
As a post script and disclaimer to my article: When I say “we” or “us” I’m speaking generally in terms of BLT 2/9 and not me personally. I was assigned to 2/9 as Message Center Chief, and as such my duties were performed at the US Naval Comm Station at U-Tapao. I did not participate in the assault of Koh Tang, nor did I mean to imply that I did. Thanks & Semper Fi, Edd Prothro
Hi, my Marine Corps service occurred after these events. To make a long story short, I ended up joining the Air Force because the Marine Corps didn’t need reused CH-53A/D helicopter Crew Chiefs back in 1985. Along the way in the Air Force, I had the privilege of being assigned to the 40th Rescue Flight/40th Helicopter Flight, which is the post Vietnam War reincarnation of the 40th ARRS (Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron). While there, I worked with the Air Force Museum to obtain all of the historical memorabilia of the 40th ARRS. When the Museum delivered the huge amount of stuff, I, as the unit 1st Sgt, got the honor of going through all of it. Mixed in with everything are the duty log books that were used by the 40th during the last part of the Vietnam War and the Mayaguez incident. Chaos was the word of the day, to say the least! Many Marines and Airmen went above and beyond the call of duty! I think it was the Discovery Channel that visited the unit to view the log books and other items from that time. They made a documentary of the entire episode. I would highly recommend watching this show. Jeff Kyle, Cpl, USMC 6113/6167 and SMSgt USAF (Ret) 2A572/2A590
Jeff – At the 2012 reunion of the KTMVO I had the pleasure of dining with the father and sister of Don Backland, Jr. who flew Jolly 11 during the operation. He later was killed in an accident after he switched to flying Warhogs. His father, Don, Sr. told me that his flight log for that day was only six words, “The worst day of my life!” May he rest in peace. Semper Fi!
The Mayaguez incident was well or over covered by the media. To me the biggest problem was always that the Air Force was inexperienced in landing troops in battle at the time, was picked to do this mission. Their inexperience led to needless loss of Marines in the incident. I still am puzzled as to why Marine Corps helicopters were not used in the incident. I have always suspected that it was an inter-service turf battle for participation and the Air Force won out on the helicopters. Can someone explain to me why the Air Force was picked for the mission over experienced Marine Corps helicopters who had much experience of inserting and with drawing troops in combat.
There was no “inter-service turf battle” about who would fly the mission. The CH/HH-53’s were the only ones available. Read further below:
Hey Gunny – We didn’t get to see much of that media coverage after we returned to Okinawa, only Star & Stripes and OkiMar. I did telephone my wife who worked in the “head shed” at MCRD San Diego. Luckily, there we several friends who worked in the Base Comm Center and kept her clandestinely up to date. You would be hard pressed to find any criticism of the Air Force pilots and air crew by any of the Marines involved in the landings. They, the same as us, were directed to do a nasty unforgiving job, and they did it to the best of their abilities. The LPH (either Guadalcanal or Okinawa, I can’t remember which) for Advance Ready Group Alpha (ARG-A) had boiler problems and was in the process of repair in the Philippines and could not sail. The CH/HH-53’s were the only birds available that had the range to make the round trip from U-Tapao to Koh Tang. A CH-46 couldn’t do that. Also, the enemy fire from the island was devastating, not a bird got out without some type of serious damage. Several of the aircraft were hastily repaired aboard USS Coral Sea and returned to the fray. One example of valor by an Air Force pilot is that of Bob Blough. During the extraction he was ordered to fly to the Coral Sea and remain. But, Bob knew it was about an hour long round trip. So he hovered, caddie-wampus across the flight deck of the USS Holt, which was only 5 minutes away, disembarked the Marines through the side door, and returned to the island to pick-up more. He was later chastised by his superiors (???) for not flying to the Coral Sea as ordered. Now, that’s guts, compassion, and exceptional flying done by a young lieutenant. I would take a bullet for Bob Blough any day. Semper Fi!
Clarification on the casualties. Does the 41 include the 23 airmen that were lost, or in addition to the air crew?Thank you
There were 20 Air Police plus the 3 man crew aboard the aircraft which crashed in Thailand on 14 May 75. Killed during the assault on the island’s East Beach were 10 Marines, 2 Navy Corpsmen and the Air Force copilot aboard Knife-31; One Air Force crew chief drowned at sea due to crash; One Marine killed on patrol on West Beach; and the 3 Marines machine gun crew were unknowingly left on West Beach. These comprise the last 41 names on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial. May they rest in peace. Semper Fi!
I had just returned to Okinawa from USNB Subic Bay after off loading from USS Vancouver and spending some time at the base and Olongapo City after Operation Frequent Wind. I was walking to the snack bar at Camp Hague and there was a lot of vehicle traffic and other Marines moving around the camp. The following morning Found out what was going on. I thought Vietnam was over with. After rotating back to Camp Pendleton I later got to work around Vietnamese again as thousands of refugees were there. Some time later a friend and I went back and forth regarding casualties I said we lost more service men then crew members of the Mayaguez who were recovered.
Regretfully, it was tit-for-tat. 41 American servicemen gave their lives to save 41 merchant sailors from an American flagged ship. Semper Fi!
I was a SSgt stationed at MCAS Futema as a GCA Tech at the time of these events. Grunts loaded into VMGR 152 C-130’s right outside of our Op’s bldg. I was puzzled by the use of Air Force 53’s. Where were the Marine 53’s? They weren’t at Futema! All A/C stationed at Futema except the VMO squadron (OV-10’s) were deployed as P/O Operation Eagle Pull (Saigon evacuation) or the mission at Koh Tang. At one point I stood at midfield of the landing strip at Futema and marveled at the ghostly stillness of the entire base. Piss poor intel and plain inexperience cost too many good men their lives.
Gunny Hall – Please read my responce to Gunny Bennett above. We certainly would have preferred to have Marine air assets, so would have the Air Force, but there were just none available in the time frame required. We members of the Koh Tang/Mayaguez the greatest respect and enpathy with our Air Force breathern. They did one helluva job!! Semper Fi!
I remember this action very Will. I was at Camp Schwab when the 2/9 pull out on that mission it was a big deal that day on the whole base! My unit was with the Amtrac Battalion on the top of the base. The 2/9 was on the very bottom of the base! We were put on standby but yes it was planned as a easy rescue,our brothers were not expecting what came! But all the training in the jungle off of Schwam really paid off!! After 2/9 got back the base showed there respect to the Marines that were lost! But man the little town just outside of the base I think it was called Ha-noko. But it was really Rocken we party toasted and praise our brothers and gave them a hell of send off!! US MARINE FOREVER!