Editing Mayaguez incident (section)

===Extraction of U.S. Marine elements===
[[File:CH-53 Marine Rescue Koh Tang.jpg|thumb|USAF [[United States Air Force Pararescue|pararescueman]] [[Wayne Fisk]] guides U.S. Marines to an HH-53.]]
[[File:View of Western LZ from an HH-53.jpg|thumb|View of the West Beach from an HH-53]]
[[File:Marines board JG11 to evacuate Eastern LZ.jpg|thumb|Marines of 3rd Platoon, Company G board ''Jolly Green 11'' to evacuate the East Beach.]]

The [[U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff]] decided that, with the ship recaptured and the crew released, further reinforcement of Koh Tang was unnecessary and at 11:55 they ordered the U.S. forces to "immediately cease all offensive operations against the Khmer Republic [and to] disengage and withdraw all forces from operating areas as soon as possible". Hearing this order, the circling EC-130 ABCCC recalled the second assault wave. The helicopters with the second wave reversed course until Austin, on the ground on Koh Tang, convinced Burns that the reinforcements were necessary to prevent his units from being overrun; the order was rescinded at 12:10.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|214–215}}

The second wave carrying the Marines from ''Knife 22'' and a platoon from Company E had originally taken off at staggered times between 09:00 and 10:00, but with the reversal of course its arrival on Koh Tang was seriously delayed.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|252}} At 12:10 ''Knife 51'', followed by ''Jolly Greens 43, 11 and 12'' landed 100 additional Marines and evacuated nine wounded on the West Beach, making a total of 225 Marines – 205 on the West Beach and 20 Marines and five airmen on the East Beach.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|257}} Around the same time Austin's isolated command unit planned a linkup of its small contingent with the bulk of Golf Company at the northern end of the West Beach. Using mortar fire and A-7 airstrikes to clear Khmer Rouge in the jungle between the two forces, it reached the G Company perimeter at 12:45.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|215–217}}

By 14:00 firing on the West Beach had reduced substantially as Em Son had moved most of his men back from the beaches with only three-man patrols maintaining pressure on the two Marine enclaves. Austin asked the ABCCC if he should attempt to push across the island (a distance of approximately {{convert|1100|ft}}<ref name=Lavalle/>{{rp|104}}) to link up with the isolated unit on the East Beach, but was advised that another helicopter pickup would be attempted first.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|218–224}} At 14:15 ''Jolly Greens 11'' and ''43'' approached East Beach, but were repulsed by heavy fire. ''Jolly Green 43'' had a fuel line damaged, but made an emergency landing aboard ''Coral Sea'' at 14:36, where it was repaired and returned to service by 17:00.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|258}}

During the attempted landing by ''Jolly Green 43'', fire was seen coming from a semi-submerged Swift Boat that had been shot up by an AC-130 the previous day, A-7 aircraft were called in to destroy the boat with their 20&nbsp;mm cannon.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|225–226}} At 16:20 hours, ''Nail 68'', an Air Force [[OV-10]] forward air control (FAC) aircraft, arrived and took over the direction of air support. At 16:23 ''Nail 68'' called on ''Wilson'' to use its [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|5-inch gun]] to destroy the semi-submerged Swift Boat.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|228}}

This change in controllers marked a turning point in the quality of airborne firepower available to the Marines because for the first time that day they had an airborne observer exclusively dedicated to providing accurate and timely close air support.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|257}} At 17:00 Em Son gathered his forces and moved back up the island to secure an ammunition dump that lay between the West and East Beaches. He was surprised to find the dump intact and no Marines lying in ambush. Now supplied, his men would be able to increase the pressure on the Marines again.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|229–231}}

At 18:00 as the sun began to set a third attempt to rescue the East Beach force was attempted, using ''Jolly Green 11'' as the rescue ship and with gunfire support from ''Jolly Green 12'', ''Knife 51'' and the gig from ''Wilson'' mounting four M60s. ''Nail 68'' first ordered gun runs by an AC-130 followed by F-4s and A-7s along the edge of the East Beach. As this was going on, five C-130s arrived over Koh Tang carrying [[BLU-82|BLU-82 "daisy cutter"]] bombs — a {{convert|15,000|lb|kg|adj=on}} device and the largest conventional explosive weapon in the U.S. arsenal at the time. Not seeing any practical use for the BLU-82s, ''Nail 68'' ordered them dropped well south of the Marines' positions.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|258}}

At 18:15 ''Jolly Green 11'' approached the East Beach, but did not actually set down because the hulk of ''Knife 23'' was sitting on the beach. Instead, the pilot ([[First lieutenant#U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force|First Lieutenant]] Donald Backlund) skilfully hovered the helicopter several feet off the ground just north of the original beach LZ. The extraction was difficult because the helicopter would see-saw up and down. Only a few Marines at a time could board the helicopter's rear ramp in this fashion by timing their jumps to coincide with the downward motion of the aircraft. ''Jolly Green 11'' was hit numerous times, but managed to transport its cargo of 20 Marines and five Airmen to the ''Coral Sea''.<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|258}}

Shortly after ''Jolly Green 11'' evacuated the East Beach, the first BLU-82 was dropped causing a huge explosion and sending a shock wave across the West Beach. Austin quickly called the ABCCC with the instruction that no more of the bombs should be dropped.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|231–235}} A report from ''Jolly Green 11'' indicated that a Marine might be in the wreckage of ''Knife 31'' and ''Jolly Green 12'' went in to search for any survivors. ''Jolly Green 12'' hovered above the wreck, while a crewman was lowered on a rescue hoist to survey the wreckage. No Marine was recovered and ''Jolly Green 12'' suffered extensive damage in the rescue attempt and flew to ''Coral Sea''.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|235}}<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|259}}

As a moonless night fell over Koh Tang, the remaining two helicopters, ''Knife 51'' and the hastily repaired ''Jolly Green 43'', were joined by ''Jolly Green 44'' which had been out of service at its Nakhon Phanom base but had been repaired and flown to the area. At 18:40 this force began to withdraw the remaining 205 Marines from the West Beach, protected by AC-130 fire and naval gunfire support from ''Henry B. Wilson'' and its gig. The first load of 41 Marines was lifted out at 18:40 by ''Knife 51'' and flown to the ''Coral Sea'', followed by 54 taken aboard ''Jolly Green 43''.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|238–243}}

As ''Jolly Green 44'' picked up a load of 44 Marines, the remaining Marines in the shrinking West Beach perimeter came under intense attack and were in danger of being overrun. The round trip to ''Coral Sea'' took thirty minutes, so the pilot, First Lieutenant Bob Blough, decided to deliver his Marines to ''Harold E. Holt'', the nearest ship to Koh Tang, in complete darkness while hovering the helicopter over the ship with only its front wheels touching down. Within five minutes ''Jolly Green 44'' returned and picked up 34 more Marines, leaving 32 still on the island. ''Jolly Green 44'' was suffering engine trouble and this time headed for ''Coral Sea''.<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|238–243}}

At 20:00 ''Knife 51'' landed and began loading Marines in the dark, and under fire. [[Captain (United States)|Captain]] Davis and [[Gunnery Sergeant]] McNemar were joined by ''Knife 51''{{'}}s Pararescueman [[Technical sergeant#United States Air Force|Technical Sergeant]] [[Wayne Fisk]] outside of ''Knife 51''. With the Marines aboard, Fisk followed Davis and McNemar in boarding ''Knife 51''. Fisk requested permission to deplane, and as he moved to do so, two marines stumbled aboard, out of the darkness. Fisk located Davis and asked whether all his men were aboard, confirming they were. Fisk, for a final time requested and received permission to deplane ''Knife 51'', with McNemar waiting by ''Knife 51'' as Fisk hastily searched the beach. With illumination rounds from Cambodian mortars, Fisk returned to ''Knife 51'' where McNemar jumped aboard, and ''Knife 51'', some 10 minutes after landing, departed Koh Tang for the ''Coral Sea''<ref name=Wetterhahn/>{{rp|245–248}}<ref name=Dunham/>{{rp|262}}<ref name=Chun/>{{rp|70}}<ref name=Guilmartin>{{cite book|last=Guilmartin|first=John Francis|title=A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the Battle of Koh Tang|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|year=1995|isbn=0890966656}}</ref>{{rp|141–144}}