Koh Tang (also known as Tang Island) is an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk Province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

 in the Gulf of Thailand

Gulf of Thailand

The Gulf of Thailand , also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:...

. The island is approximately 43 km southwest off the coast of Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

. The inhabitants on the island are the Cambodian military

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces

The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces are the national military forces of Cambodia. The Commander-in-Chief is HM King Norodom Sihamoni, and consists of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Forces....

 personnel.

The Khmer word Koh(កោះ), translated in to English means island.

Mayaguez Incident

The island was the site of the last combat action of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and the only ground combat between U.S. forces and the Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

. On May 15, 1975, U.S. Marines on board U.S. Air Force helicopters landed on Koh Tang in the hope of freeing the crew of the SS Mayagüez

SS Mayagüez

SS Mayaguez was a U.S.-flagged container ship that attained notoriety for its 12 May 1975 seizure by Khmer Rouge forces of Cambodia, which resulted in a confrontation with the United States at the close of the Vietnam War....

which had been captured by Khmer Rouge gunboats on May 12 1975. The crew of the Mayaguez was not on Koh Tang, but had been taken to the Cambodian mainland and were released during the rescue operation. In the course of the operation the Khmer Rouge shot down three CH-53 helicopters on or near Koh Tang and 15 Marines and Air Force crewmen were killed and another 3 Marines were inadvertently left behind and later killed. An estimated 13-25 Khmer Rouge were killed during the battle.

Capture of the Foxy Lady

On the evening of 13 August 1978 the Foxy Lady, a Chinese sailing junk which had been blown off course while sailing from Singapore to Bangkok, was discovered taking shelter on the western side of Koh Tang by Khmer Rouges gunboats. The Khmer Rouges fired on the Foxy Lady killing Canadian crewman Stuart Glass. The other two crewmen, Englishman John Dewhirst and New Zealander Kerry Hamill dived into the water and were picked up by the Khmer Rouges boats. Dewhirst and Hamill were later transported to S-21 prison

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge communist regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979...

 in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...

where they were tortured and forced to write confessions. Dewhirst was executed in late August and Hamill was executed in October 1978.