The Mysteries of History (May 12 Edition)
Cambodia Seizes American Freighter
1975 — Mayaguez Captured by Cambodia
public domain images from wikimedia commons
Fifty years ago today, the new communist government of Cambodia commandeered the Mayaguez, an American commercial vessel it claimed was invading its territorial waters, taking its merchant mariners into custody.
After the U.S. had departed Vietnam a couple of years earlier, it may have seemed to some a low-risk affair to “poke the Eagle,” but the U.S. response was swift and decisive: President Gerald Ford had the port in Cambodia from whence the gunboats were sent bombed, and sent in the marines to recover the Mayaquez and rescue its crew, who were being held on the island of Koh Tang.
The operation was successful, but perhaps unnecessary, as the Cambodians were apparently already in the process of releasing both the ship and its sailors. For the Americans, it was a symbolic but pyrrhic victory. It sent a message that America was not to be trifled with, but also cost the lives of 41 American soldiers, most of when perished in an accidental blast during the military intervention.
Questions: If you were alive at the time, do you remember the Mayaquez incident? If you were not alive at the time, had you heard of the Mayaquez incident prior to reading this? Was the 1982 Falkland Islands War between Britain and Argentina similar in any way to the Mayaquez incident?
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