The Last Boarding Party The USMC and the SS Mayaguez 1975

by Chun, Clayton; Noon, Steve; Gilliland, Alan; Kozik, Mariusz

• ISBN13: 9781849084253
• ISBN10: 1849084254
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

On April 30, 1975, the final curtain of America's long involvement in the Vietnam War fell. North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon while thousands of South Vietnamese refugees attempted to flee on foot, boat, and aircraft. The American public believed that the events in Southeast Asia had finally come to a bitter end. Less than two weeks later, President Gerald Ford ordered air, naval, and Marine forces to conduct combat operations in waters off Cambodia. On May 12, communist Cambodian Khmer Rouge elements seized the S.S. Mayaguez, an American merchant ship, and its crew in international waters. This act of piracy created an incident where U.S. Marine Corps elements attempted to rescue the Mayaguez, one of the most controversial raids in recent history. This book will track every development in the mission , an eventual success that demonstrated American resolve to use military forces in foreign policy issues after the Vietnam debacle.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 4
Southeast Asia in turmoil	p. 4
America charts a new path	p. 7
A powder keg in the Gulf of Thailand	p. 8
Origins	p. 9
"Mayday"	p. 10
Initial Strategy	p. 11
"What are our options?"	p. 14
"This is not an easy operation"	p. 19
Intelligence: The key to planning	p. 21
America: Limited forces, limited options	p. 23
The Plan	p. 24
Operational concept	p. 25
Conflicting priorities	p. 28
Taking Koh Tang	p. 30
Attacking the mainland	p. 33
Command, control, and communications	p. 35
The Raid	p. 38
The Khmer Rouge take action	p. 38
America responds	p. 41
Recovering the Mayaguez: "Marines over the side"	p. 42
Green Lizards, Fighting Redcocks, and Mighty Shrikes go to war	p. 46
Koh Tang: A costly initial assault	p. 48
The second wave	p. 61
The rescuers need rescue	p. 64
Analysis	p. 71
The Mayaguez's Legacy	p. 71
National Leaders and the future	p. 74
Conclusion	p. 76
Bibliography	p. 78
Index	p. 80
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