The island was the site of the last combat action during the U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s. On May 15, 1975, U.S. Marines on board U.S. Air Force helicopters landed on the island in hopes of finding the crew of the SS Mayagüez. The crew of the merchant vessel were not on the island as U.S. Intelligence had reported but had been transferred from the ship to the nearby Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville, also known as Kampong Saom. The seizure of the vessel by Khmer Rouge forces and subsequent assault on Koh Tang became known as the Mayagüez Incident.
A web site run by the veterans of the May 15, 1975 rescue operation can be seen at http://www.kohtang.com
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Last updated on Thursday July 03, 2008 at 03:26:08 PDT (GMT -0700)
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