Marine Lance Cpl Hargrove was assigned to E Co., 2nd Bn., 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Div., (machine gun team). Joseph was one of the 200 Marines sent to rescue the 40-man crew of the SS Mayaguez, a U.S. merchant ship seized by Cambodian Khmer Rouge troops. Unknown to the Marines, the Khmer Rouge had released the crew and hundreds of heavily armed Cambodians were waiting on Koh Tang, an island 30 miles off the coast of Cambodia instead. On May 15, 1975, a fierce battle between the two sides began and 15 Americans were killed in action immediately. The Marines aborted the mission and in the confusion, three men were left behind – Pfc Gary Lee Hall, Lance Cpl Joseph N. Hargrove, and Pvt Danny G. Marshall. It will probably never be known how long they fought on. Later eyewitness accounts said one Marine was captured the day after the battle and executed on the spot. The two other Marines managed to evade capture for a couple of days to a couple of weeks (the story varies). When captured, they were taken to the Cambodian mainland and brutally executed. Joseph was never brought home but his family has had a memorial stone placed for him at the Maplewood Cemetery.
Marine Lance Cpl Hargrove was assigned to E Co., 2nd Bn., 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Div., (machine gun team). Joseph was one of the 200 Marines sent to rescue the 40-man crew of the SS Mayaguez, a U.S. merchant ship seized by Cambodian Khmer Rouge troops. Unknown to the Marines, the Khmer Rouge had released the crew and hundreds of heavily armed Cambodians were waiting on Koh Tang, an island 30 miles off the coast of Cambodia instead. On May 15, 1975, a fierce battle between the two sides began and 15 Americans were killed in action immediately. The Marines aborted the mission and in the confusion, three men were left behind – Pfc Gary Lee Hall, Lance Cpl Joseph N. Hargrove, and Pvt Danny G. Marshall. It will probably never be known how long they fought on. Later eyewitness accounts said one Marine was captured the day after the battle and executed on the spot. The two other Marines managed to evade capture for a couple of days to a couple of weeks (the story varies). When captured, they were taken to the Cambodian mainland and brutally executed. Joseph was never brought home but his family has had a memorial stone placed for him at the Maplewood Cemetery.
