Koh Tang Mayaguez Vets Organization Guest Book

The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training – sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him. However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind.
-Gen. Douglas MacArthur,
West Point, 1962

I got to Camp Schwab in March 1976 and was privileged to meet some of the Koh Tang vets in person.

It's been half a century now, but you'll never be forgotten.

Semper Fidelis, Marines.

Sgt Lunceford, R.D.
81mm Mortars 2nd Bn. 9th Marines
September 1975 to September 1979

Served with many of you in Frequent Wind. I was aboard USS ENTERPRISE CVAN-65 heading home monitoring the situation in IOIC. God Bless you guys ! Brother Charlie Clark, my man ! Never Forget these hero's !

50 years. It is still fresh in a lot of our minds. What a day to have survived.

I found out about the Koh Tang Vets through an airline friend. I attended the Cincinnati, Ft Walton Beach and Las Vegas reunions. I was 30 years old on May 15, 1975. Now I am 80 and I will not be attending this year's reunion. It is an honor to know you, the officers and men of the KTMVO. Semper Fi.

This will be my first reunion with all of you. A bit nervous. I will be driving your way, from Cincinnati, in the morning after work. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Fifty years is a long time.

Looking forward to the 50th reunion this week. Met many of you at the Las Vegas reunion. Just a reminder this was really a joint military mission including our Coast Guard C-130 under the control of the Coral Sea Task Force. We were diverted from searching for escaping "Boat People" off the coast of South Vietnam to Koh Tang to fly cover for some of the Coral Sea aircraft.

On our way to DC for the reunion

On our way to DC for the reunion

I am a Military Historian and Author writing a story about Capt Terry Ohlemeier, one of the CH-53 pilots involved in the Mayaguez Mission. Capt Ohlemeier passed away in March 2025, but his story will be published in Doug Sterner's Beyond Belief, Kansas Heroes book due for publication in June.
Thanks for your service and keeping this story alive.
Peter Stonefield

Hello everyone. I was on the USS Anchorage and we were on our way home from Vietnam when we got diverted to Cambodia. Didn't see any direct action there, but we listened to whatever news we could get while the Marines battled it out on the island. It's great that organizations like this exist today. I raise my glass to the brave men who fought and bled in that last battle of the war.