Thoughts of Past....

I was talking to a friend the other day over coffee, a hard charging ex-marine that at the age of 62 can still kick this ex-hooah’s butt in push ups. The conversation turned to the last battle of the Viet Nam war, the capture of The S.S.Mayaguez and the subsequent Marine beach landing at Koh Tang. We discussed both seeing the last 41 names on the Viet Nam War Memorial, all Marines killed in action on that God forsaken island that day.

I recall the day they captured the Mayaguez. I was sitting safely at home, thoughts of bullets, tracers and sappers long gone and watching the news. They announced the Pol Pot, Khmer rouge had boarded the S.S.Mayaguez and taken the crew prisoner. I was shocked; the last chopper had pulled out of Viet Nam and now this megalomaniac Pol Pot thought he could take on the fallen giant.

A buddy working the news desk of a local paper called me that night to say the it had came over the AP wire that Marines had boarded the ship. He did a bit of digging and called back later to tell me the Marines were in a battle for the lives on Koh Tang and the Khmer rouge had already splashed two choppers. He explained that basically the Marines were stranded.

I got dressed and drove to where my buddy worked. Once inside he and I were sitting, coffee cups in hand watching the teletypes from the AP, along with a dozen printmen, newsmen and whoever else was around. Every breathing human at the place was watching this stupid Teletype as if it were a television set.

It was a long time coming for those Marines to get the hell off that island. The Khmer rouge were firmly entrenched in the tree line and able to shoot each chopper into Swiss cheese without extracting one of the brave men fighting for their lives. But later it was announced that the Marines were safely on the ships. It was not until sometime later that they released news that in the confusion of the extraction three Marines were left behind. Believe me, this mentally destroys any trooper, let alone the Marines that were involved. I recall hearing it, sitting back in the chair, closing my eyes and praying for them as well as the Marines that made it. I knew that the knowledge of this was destroying those brave men and that it would always be with them.

I really have no idea what brought this conversation up between my buddy and I, but the end found us both gazing into the sky, each to their thoughts. I also cannot quite explain why I wrote about it, except that as a soldier long ago in a time a lot try to forget, my thoughts are still there and always will be. God bless those men, I pray they rest in peace.