Advertising | Towns | Counties | Free Listing | Fun Zones | Ski | Hiking | Calendar | Email | Points of Interest

My Tour of duty with the 7th Communications Battalion

7th Comm Logo Designed by Michael R. Davis, and "borrowed" from the 7th's home page.

the Marines in HQ Co., 7th Comm Bn,
3rd Marine Division, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, May, 1974 to June 1975

The pictures are of the "Marines" back then.... Hope you enjoy the tour!

The quality of the pictures are not so great, but they are over 32+ years old.

In April, Easter weekend, 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the Communists, ending the war in Southeast Asia. AKA The fall of Saigon, U.S. evacuation from the Vietnam was complete.

The Mayaguez was a merchant freighter bound to Thailand from Singapore. On May 12, 1975, Cambodian Khmer Rouge guerrillas in two gunboats captured the ship and its 39-member crew. The crew was charged with spying. Following 2 days of military attacks and counterattacks, the Mayaguez was retaken in a lightning raid using a small amphibious force of U.S. Marines and U.S. Airmen (helicopter crewmen).

15 Marines and 2 Airmen were killed, 3 Marines were MIA. 18 Marines would die on the island and four aircraft would be lost. 23 Americans had died in a helicopter crash. So, a total of 41 American lives were lost in the mission.

After the last helicopter left around 8 PM, a head count showed 3 marines were left behind on the island. In 1999, Department of Defense investigators found evidence to indicate one of the Marines was killed a few days later while trying to steal food from the Khmer Rouge. The other two were captured within a few days, executed, and buried on Kaoh Tang island.

The SS Mayaguez was scrapped in 1979.

Related Links

http://www.usmm.org/mayaguez.html

http://www.specialoperations.com/Operations/mayaguez.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaguez_Incident

http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/vietnam/750519a.htm

http://www.paperlessarchives.com/ss_mayaguez_.html

Whatever you believe,
always support our troops!

7th Comm | Camp Hansen | The Party | The LSD | The Barracks | The Philipines | The Marines | Links | GI

End of page content

Disclaimer / Copyright Information / Privacy Policy

Copyright © 1995-2010 Bear Systems Publishing, LLC PO Box 1427  Woodstock, NY 12498 (845) 853-9962 All rights reserved