Operation Eagle Pull

Operation Eagle Pull
Date April 12, 1975 Standort Kambodscha - Phnom Penh, 11°32′53.16″N 104°55′52.16″E Result U.S. tactical victory with US forces airlifting 276 people to safety. Khmer Rouge propaganda victory
Belligerents
Vereinigte Staaten Khmer Republic	- Khmer Rouge
Commanders and leaders
Commander Task Force 76	Pol Pot
Casualties and losses
none	none known

Übersicht

Operation Eagle Pull was the American evacuation by air of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on April 12, 1975.

Strangulation of Phnom Penh

At the beginning of 1975 the Khmer Republic controlled only the Phnom Penh area and a string of towns along the Mekong River that now provided the crucial supply route for food and munitions coming upriver from South Vietnam. As part of their 1975 dry season offensive, rather than renewing their frontal attacks on Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge set out to cut off the crucial Mekong supply route. On 12 January 1975 the Khmer Rouge attacked Neak Luong a key FANK defensive outpost on the Mekong. On 27 January, 7 ships limped into Phnom Penh, the survivors of a 16 ship convoy that had come under attack over the 100km journey from the South Vietnamese border. On 3 February a convoy heading downriver hit a minefield sown by the Khmer Rouge at Phu My approximately 74km from Phnom Penh. The FANK Navy had a limited miesweeping capability, but due to the Khmer Rouge control of the riverbanks miesweeping was impossible or at best extremely costly. By 17 February the Government abandoned attempts to reopen the Mekong supply line, in future all supplies for Phnom Penh would now have to come in by air to Pochentong Airport.

On 5 March, Khmer Rouge artillery at Toul Leap, northwest of Phnom penh shelled Pochentong Airport. FANK troops recaptured Toul Leap on 15 March ending the shelling. Khmer Rouge forces continues to close in on the North and West of the city and were again able to fire on Pochentong. On 22 March rockets hit 2 American supply aircraft, forcing the Embassy to announce a suspension of the airlift the following day, until the security situation improved. The Embassy, realising that the Khmer Republic would soon collapse without supplies, reversed the suspension on 24 March and increased the number of aircraft available for the airlift. Bird Airways, a company under contract to the US Government, controlled the airlift and with a mixed fleet of C-130s and DC-8s now flew 20 times a day into Pochentong.

On 1 April the Khmer Rouge overran Neak Luong and Ban-am, the last remaining FANK positions on the Mekong. The Khmer Rouge could now concentrate all their forces on Phnom Penh. Premier Lon Nol resigned that day and went into exile; the final collapse of the Khmer Republic was imminent.

Planning

The evacuation plan was developed and refined as Khmer Rouge forces closed in on Phnom Penh, starting as early as 1973.

On 6 January 1975, CINCPAC placed the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit on 96 hour alert to move the evacuation fleet into position off Kampong Som (previously Sihanoukville) in the Gulf of Thailand for the implementation of Operation Eagle Pull. On 6 February the reaction time was reduced to 48 hours meaning that the evacuation fleet had to maintain a 48 hour cruising radius from Kampong Som.

The evacuation fleet

On 3 March 1975 Amphibious Ready Group Alpha (Task Group 76.4), and the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit (Task Group 79.4) embarked and arrived at the designated station off Kampong Som in the Gulf of Thailand.

By 11 April 1975, the force comprised:

Task Group 76.4 (Movement Transport Group Alpha)

• USS Okinawa (LPH-3) carrying HMH-462 comprising 14 CH-53, 3 Ch-46, 4 AH-1J, and 1 UH-1E helicopters
• USS Vancouver (LPD-2)
• USS Thomaston (LSD-28)

Escort ships:

• USS Edson (DD-946)
• USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7)
• USS Knox (FF-1052)
• USS Kirk (FF-1087)

for naval gunfire, escort, and area defense.

The task force was joined by:

• USS Hancock carrying Marine Heavy Lift Helicopter Squadron HMH-463 comprising 25 CH-53, CH-46, AH-1J and UH-1E helicopters.

The Marine evacuation contingent comprised one battalion landing team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4) .

As the Khmer Rouge had no air force and only limited AAA capability, no fleet air cover was necessary, but the evacuation was supported by USAF aircraft based in Thailand.

The evacuation

At 07:45 local time on 12 April 1975, USS Okinawa and USS Hancock began launching helicopters in three waves to carry the 360-man Marine ground security force to the landing zone, a soccer field between the US Embassy and the Mekong River. One hour later, after traversing 100 miles of hostile territory, the initial wave set down and the Marines quickly established a defensive perimeter.

Over the next 2 hours 82 Americans, 159 Cambodians, and 35 other nationals were evacuated to the fleet.

By 10:41 all the evacuees had been lifted out, and by 11:20 the ground security force also was airborne and heading out to sea.

At 12:24 all aircraft and personnel were safely back on board.

One Khmer Rouge 75mm shell impacted near the landing zone, but no casualties were suffered during the entire operation.

The following day, task group helicopters flew the evacuees to Thailand and the naval force set sail for Subic Bay.

• 
  The Soccer Field, scene of Operation Eagle Pull

Aftermath

Henry Kissinger observed in his Vietnam War memoir that the operation "served as a dress rehearsal for the much more complex evacuation of Saigon two weeks later". Further, he noted that the President FordFord Administration was astonished and shamed by the fact that top Cambodian officials refused to leave the country. These included Premier Long Boret and Lon Non, the Prime Minister's brother, both of whom were on the Khmer Rouge's advertised death list.

On 17 April 1975 the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh bringing the Cambodian Civil War to an end. Long Boret, Lon Non and others of the Khmer Republic Government were executed at the Cercle Sportif, while FANK troops in the city were disarmed, taken to the Olympic Stadium and executed.

External links

• Roland Neveu photos from the fall of Phnom Penh