Marine Corps Historical Collection

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia John GuntherDean steps off an HMH-462 CH-53 at Uta-pao. He arrived in Thailand on the afternoon of the day he departed from Phnom Penh.

on board launched from the Okinawa. They requested clearance to Utapao Air Base, the military airfield closest to Ambassador Dean's new destination, Bangkok, Thailand. The next day, Sunday, 13 April, the remaining 270 refugees flew to Utapao on HMH-462's Sea Stallions. When the last of these aircraft returned to the Okinawa, Amphibious Ready Group Alpha set course for the nexi crisis area, the South China Sea and South Vietnam, where it intended to rendezvous with Task Group 76.48