Vietnam War, The Mayaguez Incident

The Mayaguez Incident, the final battle of the Vietnam War and the three Marine's left behind.

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Education

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• Vietnam
• War

[MrGamerxpert]

If I was the officer requesting to go back I would have asked the pilots to take everyone there and get the marines back

[1stMarineCapt]

May God rest their souls. Three brave young Marines, whom served God against Satan. Semper Fi, and Oorah.

[TomthatiscalledTom]

The whole Cambodian disaster, Pol Pot and all, could have been avoided if its neutralist leader Prince Sihanouk had been allowed remain in power into the 1970s. The Khmer Rouge would have remained a small isolated force with just a few thousand supporters

[saulpaulus]

@0369DevilDog At least the earlier bombing seemed to have a military purpose. This wouldve just slaughtered innocent people for no reason. Thank God Schlesinger & Jones talked Ford out of it. One of the worst things as I see it is that the Corps assumes Hargrove, Hall, & Marshall were KIA BEFORE the assault force left. This in spite of testimony from fellow Marines & the KR who ordered them killed. As a result, Purple Hearts are all they'll ever get & their families had to wait for those.

[0369DevilDog]

@saulpaulus Damn! In 1969, I fought in Nam and there was so much bs going on there. One, the Troops did not lose that fucking war. It was the political air heads in Washington. Everytime I see Kissenger on tv I get pissed. He got face down in bed with the NVA. Later, he tricked "Tricky Dick into leaving Nam". I am glad the AF pilots checked fire on that bs. But we did step up bombing in Cambodia under Nixon before the Mayaguez.

[0369DevilDog]

@wmoore8 I feel your pain Marine. We "NEVER LEAVE A FELLOW MARINE BEHIND!" I was in Oki and read the incident reports on this. In 1969, I loaned one of my Marine squad leaders out to another platoon and he never came back. he was WIA. So I thought he had survived. In 2009, I learn he died of his wounds. Today I am in therapy because of that. So I weep with you Marine, but we will stay strong as the Original Band of Brothers! Semper Fi

[saulpaulus]

@0369DevilDog It gets worse. Kissinger ALMOST convinced Ford to have B-52s carpet bomb Kompong Som area which would just have killed thousands of innocents. He & Ford actually wanted boat w/ hostages destroyed & he got pissed at AF pilot for filing sit reports rather than obeying orders when he checked fire & advised WH. Honestly believe he wanted hostages dead so that Cambodians couldnt embarrass US by blackmail.

[0369DevilDog]

@saulpaulus WTF!? The ink on the incident report I read was not even dry on Oki before it went to Washington. You know what? In 1983, I went to Grenada with an op eval team. It seems "they" did not learn crap from Operation Frequent Wind. Later, they ordered me to Labanon on independent pcs orders. I said Faaahhhhaaa You; and I reired. Thanks for helping me wrap my head around this. I felt so helpless as I read the reports and their SRB's. Thanks for the heads up.

[saulpaulus]

@wpreddog54 Also the points that Mayaguez would never have happened but for Vietnam and those guys' names are all on the Wall.

[saulpaulus]

@0369DevilDog Ford & other higher ups messed w/ op & didnt give COL Austin full info. On getting info that boatload of caucasians (who later proved to be hostages) was moving away from Koh Tang toward mainland, Ford decided hostages were dead or wouldnt be found. Never told Austin. Did hold assault team on ground 10 key minutes until he had begun briefing Congressional delegation per War Powers Act. Later said he had no "recollection" of being told Hargrove, Hall, and Marshall left behind. UGH!