Mayaguez Affair

Incident during the administration of President Gerald Ford, consisting of the taking of a U.S. merchant vessel by Cambodia and the subsequent rescue of the ship and crew. The fall of Saigon to the forces of North Vietnam in April 1975 reflected the ultimate failure of the Vietnam policy of the United States. Already demoralized by the divisiveness of the Vietnam War and the scandals of the administration of President Richard Nixon, the American public did not need the additional blow of the ignominious failure of their ally in South Vietnam.

In May 1975, Cambodian gunboats seized the Mayaguez, a U.S. merchant vessel sailing from Hong Kong to Sattahip, Thailand. (Cambodia was a communist country, as was Vietnam.) Acting quickly, [Page 448]President Gerald Ford ordered U.S. forces to recover the vessel.

Although U.S. intelligence was unsure where the Cambodians had the crew of the Mayaguez, Ford ordered the bombing of Cambodia and an amphibious assault of Koh Tang Island, near the place where the Mayaguez was taken. Two days after the taking of the Mayaguez, U.S. forces retook the vessel and rescued all 39 members of the crew.

The mission cost the lives of 41 Americans. Critics argued that the rescue was overkill, an effort by Ford to improve his standing in the polls. Ford argued that the mission was an appropriate reaction to taking American hostages. The Mayaguez Affair, in particular its successful resolution, helped to boost the morale of the American people after the loss of Vietnam.