Mayaguez Incident - President Ford Reacts

President Ford Reacts

The Mayaguez's SOS and Mayday signals were picked up by a number of listeners including an employee of Delta Exploration Company in Jakarta, Indonesia who notified the US Embassy in Jakarta. By 05:12 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) the first news of the incident reached the National Military Command Center (NMCC) in Washington D.C.

U.S. President Gerald Ford was informed of the seizure of the Mayaguez at his morning briefing with his deputy assistant for national security affairs, Brent Scowcroft. At 12:05 EDT (21:05 Cambodia), a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) was convened to discuss the situation. Meanwhile the NMCC ordered Admiral Noel Gayler, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Command (CINCPAC), to launch reconnaissance aircraft to locate the Mayaguez. The members of the NSC were determined to end the crisis decisively, believing that the fall of South Vietnam less than two weeks before and the forced withdrawal of the United States from Cambodia, (Operation Eagle Pull) and South Vietnam (Operation Frequent Wind) had severely damaged the U.S.'s reputation. They also wished to avoid comparisons to the Pueblo incident of 1968, where the failure to promptly use military force to halt the hijacking of a US intelligence ship by North Korea led to an eleven-month hostage situation. It was determined that keeping the Mayaguez and its crew away from the Cambodian mainland was essential. As the United States had no diplomatic contact with the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, President Ford instructed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to urge the People's Republic of China to persuade the Khmer Rouge to release the Mayaguez and its crew.

Following the NSC meeting the White House issued a press release stating that President Ford considered the seizure an act of "piracy". Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger ordered the military to locate the Mayaguez and prevent its movement to the Cambodian mainland, employing munitions (including tear gas and sea mines) if necessary. Secretary of State Kissinger sent a message to the Chinese Liaison Office in Washington demanding the immediate release of the Mayaguez and its crew, but the chief of the Liaison Office refused to accept the note. Kissinger then instructed George H. W. Bush, then head of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, to deliver the note to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and to pass on an oral message that "The Government of the United States demands the immediate release of the vessel and of the full crew. If that release does not immediately take place, the authorities in Phnom Penh will be responsible for the consequences."