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President Ford Moved Swiftly
For Mariners in Mayaguez Incident

February 2007

The United States Merchant Marine and the American maritime community as a whole lost an eminent ally with the death of President Gerald R. Ford in December. The 38th President of the United States, Ford died peacefully Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. at 6:45 p.m. California time, according to a statement released by the late president’s family. He was 93. No cause of death was given. President Ford is best remembered in the maritime community for his efforts in response to the May 12, 1975 seizure of a U.S.-flag, SIU-crewed container vessel in Southeast Asia. Believing that the Sea-Land Service-operated SS Mayaguez was being used to transport military equipment to Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia ordered the vessel be seized while it was operating in recognized international sea lanes. The Mayaguez’s commercial crew of 39—including 28 Seafarers—was taken captive and held prisoner. U.S. military surveillance aircraft discovered the vessel was then moved to and anchored at Koh Tang, an island located some 50 miles off the southern coast of Cambodia near that country’s shared border with Vietnam. Regarding the seizure incident as an act of piracy, President Ford ordered a military response to retake the vessel and its crew. He directed that the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea be moved into the area and that a substantial number of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan and Subic Bay in the Philippines be deployed to Utapao Air Base in Thailand. In response to President Ford’s actions, then-SIU President Paul Hall sent a telegram to the White House, declaring: “The military seizure by the Cambodian Government of the SS Mayaguez is a violation of the concept of freedom of the seas and is a hostile and unfriendly act. We share your view that this is a piratical act. We want you to know that we fully support your firm and positive action and we are confident that your efforts to protect the American citizens and the vessel involved will be in this country’s best interests.” Hall also sent individual telegrams to the families of the captured Seafarers who were aboard the Mayaguez, expressing the union’s deep concern over the situation and the safety of the crew. The resulting battle to rescue the crew—who unknown by military planners had been held aboard a fishing vessel but released prior to the start of hostilities—left 41 military members dead or missing and another 50 wounded. The crew on May 14 was returned aboard the USS Wilson shortly after American military action was carried out by combined Marine and Air Force units. The Seafarers who made up the unlicensed portion of the Mayaguez crew when it was seized were: Deck department: Jack Mullis, Salvator Puntillo, Earl Gilbert, William MacDonald, Gerald Bayliss, Thomas LaBue, John Doyle, Herbert MacDonald, Polo Russi Vazquez, Geraldo Lopez and Anastacio Sereno. Engine department: Wilfred Friedler, Wilfredo Reyes, Americo Faria, Robert Phillips, Awat Sulaimen, Frank Conway, Robert Zimmerman, Carlos Guerrero and Stephen Zarley; and Steward department: Andy Anderson, Guillermo Reyes, Angel Rios, Bill Bellinger, Munasser Omer, Francis Pastrano, Darryl Kastl and Kassim Saleh. The SIU and the entire maritime community extend its condolences to President Ford’s widow and his family. Both will forever be indebted to him for his tough leadership during a time of crisis and unwavering resolve to fight for our merchant mariners and safely return them home. Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr., in Omaha, Neb. on July 14, 1913. He was renamed for his step-father, Gerald Ford, who married the former president’s mother after her divorce. After being the captain of his high school football team, Ford landed a football scholarship to the University of Michigan. As a Wolverine, he played center and starred on two national championship teams. He graduated in 1935 and, after turning down offers to play professional football, attended Yale Law School. The late president graduated in the top third of his class in 1941. He joined the Navy in 1942, saw wartime service in the Pacific as a lieutenant commander aboard an aircraft carrier and left the Navy in 1946. He practiced law before winning a congressional seat in 1948. In 1973, Ford was in his 13th term as a Michigan congressman and was the House Republican leader when former President Richard Nixon appointed him vice president. Ford became president on Aug. 9, 1974 immediately following Nixon’s resignation. President Ford was laid to rest Jan. 3 in Grand Rapids, Mich. on the grounds of his presidential museum. The interment followed eight days of mourning that spanned the country, from California to the nation’s capital and back to the late president’s boyhood home. Ford’s casket traveled more than 2,700 miles prior to reaching its final destination.