Yet Another Reason to Remember Ford

The Mayaguez incident, the 1975 attempted rescue of a 40-member crew of the container ship Mayaguez seized by Cambodia. There were 60 American casualties—and the crew had been moved and released before the assault on Koh Tang, the island where the crew had been held, began.

Ford ordered the operation in part out of a desire not to appear weak after the final pullout from Vietnam two weeks earlier. Permament damage was done to U.S.-Thailand relations and the rescue was an operational disaster.