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    "localId": "7367507",
    "label": "Memorandum Regarding Debrief of the Mayaguez Captain and Crew",
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    "title": "Memorandum Regarding Debrief of the Mayaguez Captain and Crew",
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    "identifierLocal": "033200007-001",
    "collections": [
        "Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft West Wing Office Files (Ford Administration)",
        "Henry Kissinger's and Brent Scowcroft's General Subject Files"
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 19,
            "logicalDate": "1975-05-19",
            "month": 5,
            "year": 1975
        }
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{
    "seq": 5,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/3675/7367507/content/arcmedia/presidential-libraries/ford/gallery/033200007-001.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN\ndef\nMEMORANDUM\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nSECRET\nINFORMATION\nWASHINGTON\nMay 19, 1975\nMEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT\nnot\nFROM:\nHENRY A. KISSINGER B\nSUBJECT:\nDebrief of the MAYAGUEZ Captain and Crew\nWe have received a report (TAB A) of the debrief of the MAYAGUEZ\nCaptain and crew, including chronology of events and a report of Singapore\ndevelopments regarding the ship.\nChronology\nThe MAYAGUEZ Captain and crew present the following sequence of events\n(all times in Washington EDT):\n-- The vessel was challenged and stopped by a Cambodian gunboat\noff Poulo Wai (see map at TAB B).\n-- Their engines stopped at 0021 on Monday, May 12. They were,\nhowever, able to send out several distress signals.\n-- The gunboat crew that boarded the vessel ordered the Captain to\nproceed to Kompong Som, which he refused by claiming his radar\nwas broken.\n-- The MAYAGUEZ remained at anchor off the island of Poulo Wai\nfrom 9:00 a. m., May 12, until 9:30 p.m. that evening, and was\nthen instructed to proceed to the island of Koh Tang.\n-- The crew observed reconnaissance aircraft before \"nightfall\"\nCambodia time (or by dawn EDT).\n-- After the vessel had moved to the vicinity of Koh Tang, an\nEnglish-speaking Cambodian came aboard and asked the Captain\nabout the ship's mission and about whether it carried military\ncargo. The Cambodians even brought the Captain, the Chief\nEngineer, and several crewmen back to the vessel the following\nnight to open locked rooms for the Cambodians to inspect. But\nU.S. aircraft dropped flares which frightened the Cambodians\nand they turned away from the vessel.\nFORD & LIBRARY BERALD\nDECLASSIFIED\nE.O. 12958, Sec. 3.5\nNSC Memo, 11/24/98, State Dept. Guidelines\nSECRET\nBy let\n, NARA, Date 12/20/99\nSECRET\n-2-\n-- After the ship had arrived at Koh Tang, the personnel were\ntaken off the ship to the island and were put aboard a Thai\nfishing boat. That is when they first observed U.S. tactical\naircraft.\n- The Thai fishing boat proceeded to the mainland about 7:00 p.m.\non May 13. U.S. aircraft tried to intercept the boat, \"placing\nweapons with great accuracy\" (in front of the boat) and also using\nsome type of gas which made all aboard the boat vomit. Several\nU.S. crewmen sustained burns. A second gas attack followed\nabout half an hour later. The boat almost turned back but was\nforced ahead at gunpoint by the Cambodian guards.\n- When the crew landed at Kompong Som, they were asked by\nanother English-speaking Cambodian about CIA or FBI affiliation\nand about arms shipments. The Cambodians still appeared to\nbelieve that the ship had military cargo.\n- The Captain tried to negotiate their release, telling the Cambodians\nthat if the crew was released he would intercede with U.S. author-\nities not to take military action.\n- The Kompong Som commander said he would pass this information\nto the Phnom Penh commander, and indicated that the crew would\nprobably be released at 7:00 p.m. May 14. The Captain and the\nChief Engineer were told that they (though not the crew) could return\nto the ship, but no boat was available and they decided to stay on\nKoh Rong Sam Lem (an island about 10 miles from Kompong Sam)\nfor the night with the crew.\nAt 6:30 p.m. on May 14 the crew was ready to return to the ship.\nThey got on the Thai boat and, after the Cambodian guards left,\nthey made and displayed white flags so that U.S. aircraft could\nrecognize them. The Master said that an American reconnaissance\naircraft observed them (he did not say when) and apparently recog-\nnized them as white men. They pulled up alongside the USS WILSON\nat about 11:30 p.m. and then proceeded to the MAYAGUEZ at 1:05 a.m.\non May 15.\nThe crew was unaware of the U.S. Marines landing at Koh Tang\nuntil they were on the USS WILSON.\nFORD\nGERALD\nSECRET\nLIQUARY\nSECRET\n-3- -\nDevelopments at Singapore\n-- The Captain gave a press conference at which he thanked you\nand the American military forces for our actions, saying that\nif it were not for the efforts of the U.S. military the crew \"would\nbe in prison or dead now. 11\n-- The press zeroed in on the question of whether the Marine landing\nhad taken place after the crew had been released.\n- - The Captain said that he had received substantial offers of money\nfor his exclusive story of the incident but replied that any money\nshould go to the wounded Marines.\n-- The Chief Engineer, in a private interview, said that he believed\nU.S. commanders must have known the crew was not on Koh Tang\nIsland but on the boat returning to the ship. He also said that the\nCaptain had assembled the crew before docking at Singapore and\nthey had all agreed to present one story to the press, praising U.S.\nGovernment actions in securing their safe release.\n-- The Captain also said that the crew had not been mistreated by\nthe Cambodians.\nComment:\n-- The account given by the MAYAGUEZ Captain generally substantiates\nthe chronology that we have been able to develop. It shows that the\nvessel actually remained near its point of capture for 21 hours\nbefore it was moved to Koh Tang Island. It also shows that the\ncrew was released before our Marines landed on the island,\nthough not before they left their stations or before you made the\ndecision to proceed with the landing.\n- The account does not, however, offer any explanation of what\nmotivated the Cambodian authorities. They appear to have hoped-\nor perhaps expected- that they would find evidence of a spy mission\nor military cargo. This may explain why they originally wanted to\ntake the boat to Kompong Sam. But they did not search the vessel\nthoroughly when they boarded it and were rather easily dissuaded\nafterwards.\nSECRET\nFORD is GERALD LIBRARY\nSECRET\n-4-\n-- The account also suggests that the Cambodian authorities had\ndecided to release the boat and crew well before the crew was\nactually permitted to leave, but it does not explain why they did\nnot announce the release in advance or even when it was made.\n-- From the Captain's account, it appears that the decision to release\nthe vessel and crew was not triggered by our military actions on\nWednesday evening (EDT) but was probably tied to the threats of\nthose actions and to growing American military presence and\nactivity. That is, presumably, why the Cambodians responded\nto the Captain's offer to turn off the American military if they\nreleased him and the crew.\n- The account given by the Chief Engineer, which was given in a\nprivate interview and will presumably be published later, may\nproduce some further questions about our knowledge of the crew's\nactual movements. He apparently thinks we knew more about the\ncrew's whereabouts and movement than we did.\n-- The Captain appears to be a remarkable man.\nAttachments\nTABs A and B\nSECRET\nFORD & LIBRARY GERVID"
}