A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the Battle of Koh Tang [Texas A & M University Military History]

A Very Short War is a unique and compelling account of the Mayaguez-Koh Tang crisis by soldier-historian John F. Guilmartin Jr. A former air rescue helicopter pilot stationed in Thailand in May 1975 Guilmartin revisits Mayaguez and Koh Tang – and the chaotic events leading up to the affair. He sheds new light on the politics the tactics the orders the high-level decision makers and the fighting men entangled in a crucial military action that nearly ended in disaster for U.S. forces. Arguing that the Mayaguez-Koh Tang operation demonstrates wars essential unpredictability Guilmartin deftly explodes many of the popularly held myths that surround the nature of war.