Editing Mayaguez incident (section)

===The assault on Koh Tang===
[[File:US Marines on Koh Tang, 1975.jpg|thumb|U.S. Marines abandon their damaged helicopter ''Knife 22'' in Thailand.]]
[[File:Eastern LZ Koh Tang.jpg|thumb|East Beach with ''Knife 23'' at left, ''Knife 31'' at center and a destroyed Khmer Rouge Swift Boat at right]]
[[File:Knife 22 after emergency landing in Thailand.jpg|thumb|''Knife 22'' after emergency landing in Trat Province, Thailand]]
[[File:Thai fishing boat with the crew of the seized SS Mayaguez underway on 15 May 1975.jpg|thumb|The ''Mayaguez'' crew released on the ''Sinvari'']]
[[File:BLT 2.9 Command group disembarks JG43 on Koh Tang.jpg|thumb|BLT 2/9 Command group disembarks ''Jolly Green 43'' on the West Beach.]]
[[File:Gig of USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) rescues USAF personnel off Koh Tang island on 15 May 1975.jpg|thumb|Gig of USS ''Henry B. Wilson'' rescues USAF personnel.]]

At 06:12, the eight helicopters (five CH-53 ''Knives'' and three HH-53 ''Jolly Greens'') of the Koh Tang assault force approached the two [[Landing zone]]s (LZs) on Koh Tang. At the West Beach, the first section of two CH-53 helicopters came in at 06:20. The first helicopter; ''Knife 21'', landed safely, but while offloading its Marines came under heavy automatic weapons fire, destroying an engine. It managed to take off, protected by suppressive fire from the second CH-53, ''Knife 22'', and ditched 1.6&nbsp;km offshore. ''Knife 22'' was damaged so severely that it turned back with its Marines (including the G Company commander) still aboard escorted by ''Jolly Green 11'' and ''Jolly Green 12'', and crash-landed in [[Trat Province]] on the Thai coast, where its passengers were picked up by ''Jolly Green 12'' and returned to U-Tapao.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|159–162, 209–210}}<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|248}}

At 06:30, the CH-53s approaching the East Beach encountered intense automatic weapons and RPG fire from the entrenched Khmer Rouge. ''Knife 31'' was hit by two RPGs, which ignited its left fuel tank and ripped away the nose of the helicopter. It crashed in a fireball fifty meters offshore. The copilot, five Marines, and two Navy [[corpsmen]] were killed in the crash, another Marine drowned swimming from the wreck and three Marines were killed by gunfire trying to reach the beach. A tenth Marine died of his wounds while clinging to the burning wreckage. The surviving ten Marines and three Air Force crewmen were forced to swim for two hours before being picked up by the [[Gig (boat)|gig]] of the arriving ''Henry B. Wilson''.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|195–197}}

Among the Marine survivors was the battalion's [[Forward Air Controller]], who used an Air Force [[survival radio]] while swimming to direct A-7 air strikes against the island until the battery failed. The second CH-53, ''Knife 23'', was hit by an RPG which blew off the tail section and crash-landed on the East Beach but it offloaded its 20 Marines and crew of five. They set up a defensive perimeter and the ''Knife 23'' co-pilot used his survival radio to call in airstrikes but they were cut off from reinforcements and rescue for twelve hours.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|162–167}}<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|248–249}}

''Knife 32'' was inbound to the East Beach when it was hit by an RPG and aborted its landing, instead heading out over the West Beach to the ''Knife 21'' crash site where it dumped fuel and proceeded to rescue the three ''Knife 21'' crewmen.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|170–171}} Two other sections of the first wave, consisting of the remaining four helicopters, were diverted from the East Beach to the West Beach and eventually landed all of their Marines between 06:30 and 07:00, although the final insertion by ''Jolly Green 41'' required support from an AC-130 gunship to penetrate the Khmer Rouge fire on its fifth attempt. ''Knife 32'', ''Jolly Green 41'' and ''Jolly Green 42'' eventually landed 81 Marines on the West Beach under the command of the company [[Executive officer#United States Marine Corps|Executive Officer]], and ''Jolly Green 43'' landed 29 Marines of the battalion command post and mortar platoon a kilometre to the southwest.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|250}}

By 07:00 109 Marines and five Air Force crewmen were on Koh Tang but in three isolated beach areas and in close contact with Khmer Rouge troops. The Marines at the northern end of West Beach attempted to move down the beach to link up with Austin's command element to the south, but were beaten back by heavy Khmer Rouge fire which killed [[Lance corporal]] Ashton Loney.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|176–178}}

While isolated, the Marines were able to use their [[M29 mortar|81&nbsp;mm mortars]] for fire support and devised a makeshift communications network for controlling supporting air strikes by USAF A-7 and F-4 aircraft. It was decided that the platoon isolated on the East Beach should be extracted; following suppressive fire from an AC-130, ''Jolly Green 13'' landed there at 08:15 amid a hail of machine-gun fire. It had landed some 100&nbsp;m away from the Marines who were reluctant to risk running to the helicopter, the helicopter took off again with its fuel lines ruptured and made an emergency landing in [[Rayong]], Thailand.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|175–176}}<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|249–251}}

Of the eight helicopters assaulting Koh Tang, three had been destroyed (''Knife 21'', ''Knife 23'' and ''Knife 31'') and four others were damaged too severely to continue operations (''Knife 22'', ''Knife 32'', ''Jolly Green 41'' and ''Jolly Green 42''). Of the helicopters used in the recapture of ''Mayaguez'', ''Jolly Green 13'' had been severely damaged in the East Beach rescue attempt.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|249–251}} This left only three helicopters (all HH-53s – ''Jolly Greens 11, 12 and 43'') of the original eleven available to bring in the follow-up forces of BLT 2/9, so the 2 CH-53s (''Knife 51 and 52'') whose mission had been search and rescue – the last available helicopters – were reassigned to carry troops.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|251}}

The five helicopters picked up 127 Marines of the second wave at U-Tapao between 09:00 and 10:00.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|211–212}} At 11:50 ''Knife 52'', ''Knife 51'' and ''Jolly Green 43'' arrived over Koh Tang and prepared to land on the East Beach. As ''Knife 52'' approached, fire punctured its fuel tanks and the pilot aborted the landing and headed back to U-Tapao leaking fuel. ''Knife 51'' and ''Jolly Green 43'' also abandoned their landings and assumed a holding pattern.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|213–214}}