The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War

by Wetterhahn, Ralph

• ISBN13: 9780786708581
• ISBN10: 0786708581
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-05-13
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

Examines the final military contest of the Vietnam War, relating theijacking of the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez, the deadly marine raid on aemote Cambodian island to free the ship and its crew, and the fate of threearines left behind after the battle.

Author Biography

Ralph Wetterhahn, a former U.S. Air Force Pilot, served combat tours in Vietnam with the Air Force and Navy, completing 180 missions. His work has appeared in Leatherneck, Air and Space/Smithsonian, Popular Science, VFW, and The Retired Officer. He lives in Long Beach, California

Table of Contents

Local Area Map	xiii
The Capture and Recovery of the Mayaguez (map)	xiv
PART I The Question	1	(22)
Return to Koh Tang	3	(20)
PART II The Incident	23	(228)
The Seizure of the Mayaguez, Monday, May 12, 1975	25	(8)
The White House Responds	33	(10)
Communication Map	42	(1)
The Forces Converge	43	(4)
Shots in the Night	47	(6)
On the Move Again	53	(8)
Bring on the Marines	61	(8)
Joseph Nelson Hargrove	69	(6)
First Casualties	75	(8)
Gary Lee Hall	83	(6)
Wednesday of the Mayaguez Incident	89	(6)
``Pilot to President, Over''	95	(8)
``Gas!''	103	(8)
The Die Is Cast	111	(14)
Danny G. Marshall	125	(6)
The Cambodian Alamo	131	(6)
Em Son	137	(6)
Load Out	143	(6)
Last Chance to Avoid ``Blowing the Hell Out of 'Em''	149	(4)
Too Soon the Sun	153	(16)
Khmer Rouge Defensive Position Map	157	(12)
The Beaches	169	(10)
Koh Tang Situation Map	177	(2)
The Cambodians Blink	179	(6)
``Marines, Over the Side!''	185	(4)
Timing Is Everything	189	(6)
``They're (Not) All Safe!''	195	(8)
``Perfectly'' Awful	203	(6)
The Second Wave	209	(14)
Platoon Sergeant's Notes	217	(5)
Planned vs. Actual Attack on Koh Tang	222	(1)
Pullout from the East Beach	223	(14)
Koh Tang Situation Map II	227	(10)
The Extraction from the West Beach	237	(14)
PART III The Aftermath	251	(64)
Postmortem	253	(14)
Return Visits to Koh Tang, 1996-2001	267	(14)
Last Full Measure	281	(10)
End of the Mayaguez Incident	291	(24)
Appendix A The Mitochondria DNA Process & Full Casualty List	315	(10)
Appendix B Aircraft Descriptions	325	(8)
Appendix C Chronology of the Mayaguez Incident	333	(8)
Notes	341	(34)
Index	375