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1975 – The American freighter Mayaguez is captured by communist government forces in Cambodia, setting off an international incident.
The U.S. response to the affair indicated that the wounds of the Vietnam War still ran deep. On May 12, 1975, the U.S. freighter Mayaguez and its 39-man crew was captured by gunboats of the Cambodian navy. Cambodia had fallen to communist insurgents, the Khmer Rouge, in April 1973. The Cambodian authorities imprisoned the American crew, pending an investigation of the ship and why it had sailed into waters claimed by Cambodia.
The response of the United States government was quick. President Gerald Ford called the Cambodian seizure of the Mayaguez an “act of piracy” and promised swift action to rescue the captured Americans. In part, Ford’s aggressive attitude to the incident was a by-product of the American failure in Vietnam. In January 1973, U.S. forces had withdrawn from South Vietnam, ending years of a bloody and inconclusive attempt to forestall communist rule of that nation. In the time since the U.S. withdrawal, a number of conservative politicians and intellectuals in the United States had begun to question America’s “credibility” in the international field, suggesting that the country’s loss of will in Vietnam now encouraged enemies around the world to challenge America with seeming impunity. The Cambodian seizure of the Mayaguez appeared to be just such a challenge.
On May 14, President Ford ordered the bombing of the Cambodian port where the gunboats had come from and sent Marines to attack the island of Koh Tang, where the prisoners were being held. Unfortunately, the military action was probably unnecessary. The Cambodian government was already in the process of releasing the crew of the Mayaguez and the ship. Forty-one Americans died, most of them in an accidental explosion during the attack. Most Americans, however, cheered the action as evidence that the United States was once again willing to use military might to slap down potential enemies.
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The U.S. response to the affair indicated that the wounds of the Vietnam War still ran deep. On May 12, 1975, the U.S. freighter Mayaguez and its 39-man crew was captured by gunboats of the Cambodian navy. Cambodia had fallen to communist insurgents, the Khmer Rouge, in April 1973. The Cambodian authorities imprisoned the American crew, pending an investigation of the ship and why it had sailed into waters claimed by Cambodia.
The response of the United States government was quick. President Gerald Ford called the Cambodian seizure of the Mayaguez an “act of piracy” and promised swift action to rescue the captured Americans. In part, Ford’s aggressive attitude to the incident was a by-product of the American failure in Vietnam. In January 1973, U.S. forces had withdrawn from South Vietnam, ending years of a bloody and inconclusive attempt to forestall communist rule of that nation. In the time since the U.S. withdrawal, a number of conservative politicians and intellectuals in the United States had begun to question America’s “credibility” in the international field, suggesting that the country’s loss of will in Vietnam now encouraged enemies around the world to challenge America with seeming impunity. The Cambodian seizure of the Mayaguez appeared to be just such a challenge.
On May 14, President Ford ordered the bombing of the Cambodian port where the gunboats had come from and sent Marines to attack the island of Koh Tang, where the prisoners were being held. Unfortunately, the military action was probably unnecessary. The Cambodian government was already in the process of releasing the crew of the Mayaguez and the ship. Forty-one Americans died, most of them in an accidental explosion during the attack. Most Americans, however, cheered the action as evidence that the United States was once again willing to use military might to slap down potential enemies.
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Military History
US Marine Corps (USMC)
Cambodia
Posted >1 y ago
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MSG (Join to see), The twelfth of May is most significant in that it is the first day in the movie, "Seven Days in May"! It was directed by John Frankenheimer, and starred Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, and Ava Gardner. It's about a planned coup d'état of the U.S. government, and was released in February, 1964.
1LT Sandy Annala SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. CMDCM Gene Treants
1LT Sandy Annala SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. CMDCM Gene Treants
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CMDCM Gene Treants
This was a great movie and an even better book. The movie kept my attention for the time it was on screen, but i reread the book and found so many nuances that were missed the first time as I reread it. Years later it is still a fantastic peek into the times and minds of the people. Could it have happened? It is so believable as written, it seems plausible.
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50 years ago today ... from sunny Vietnam-land
The US Ambassador in Moscow, Foy Kholer, tries without success to get the North Vietnamese Embassy there to consider his message from Washington: the United States will suspend bombing of North Vietnam for several days in hope of reciprocal ‘constructive’ gestures–meant as a call for peace talks. This is known as Operation Mayflower. (All subsequent diplomatic moves will be codenamed for flowers.)
The US Ambassador in Moscow, Foy Kholer, tries without success to get the North Vietnamese Embassy there to consider his message from Washington: the United States will suspend bombing of North Vietnam for several days in hope of reciprocal ‘constructive’ gestures–meant as a call for peace talks. This is known as Operation Mayflower. (All subsequent diplomatic moves will be codenamed for flowers.)
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Unnecessary, casualty producing military actions. Just one more hilarious by product of ultimate lethal capability in the hands of people more concerned with political winds than the lives of people they command.
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