The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Military Police / Tet 1968 - Feb. 2nd, 2003

http://home.mweb.co.za/re/redcap/tet.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

The city of Pleiku likewise began receiving mortar attacks during the morning of 30 January 1968. A battalion-sized enemy force launched a ground attack against the city immediately following the mortar barrages. MP from B Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, succeeded in transferring the provost marshal's office from Pleiku to Camp Schmidt during the initial stages of the encounter. Throughout the following week numerous incidents of sniping were reported and small pockets of enemy resistance reduced. Street fighting and enemy contact ceased completely on 7 February 1968, and normal MP operations resumed.

At approximately 0300 hours on 31 January 1968, the Qui Nhon Ammunition Supply Depot at Valley F received recoilless rifle fire. This area was secured by guards from the 93d Military Police Battalion. There were no personnel casualties, but two pads of ammunition were destroyed. During the same period enemy forces attacked the city of Qui Nhon and temporarily occupied the radio and railroad stations there. The enemy was routed that same day. On the morning of 1 February 1968, the 93d Military Police Battalion cantonment area received a mortar attack. Street fighting and resistance by enemy forces continued in Qui Nhon until approximately 7 February 1968. On 3 February 1968, LT Banks from the 127th Military Police Company was fatally wounded as he attempted to flush a sniper from a building in the city. At the time LT Banks was participating in combined police patrol activities with the Vietnamese National Police. The 93d Military Police Battalion was able to reinforce the defenses at the Valley F Supply Depot on 3 February 1968 with the addition of a 105-mm Howitzer Battery. By 8 February 1968, conditions were stable in the city and refugees who had fled from there began to return. The MP carefully screened them in order to prevent infiltration by the Viet Cong.

Enemy activity at the Ban Me Thout during TET consisted of major rocket and mortar attacks in and around the city including the local airfield. These attacks began on the morning of 31 January and continued until the 7th of February 1968. On the morning of 2 February, three MP sentry dog handlers were wounded by an explosion of unknown origin while working in the kennel area of the 981st Military Police Company.

Cam Rahn Bay experienced very little overt enemy activity during the 1968 TET period. On the morning of 31 January, a North Vietnamese Army frogman trained in demolitions and assigned the mission of sabotaging friendly vessels was captured in the harbor. The mayor of Cam Rahn Bay immediately placed the civilian population under strict curfew and limited water traffic by Vietnamese nationals in the harbor area. During the next week, there were numerous sightings of frogman activity in the Cam Rahn Bay area. Elements of the 97th Military Police Battalion, particularly those from the 981st Military Police Company (SD) assisted in the search for infiltrators in the bay.

On the morning of 30 January 1968, the city of Nha Trang and surrounding installations began receiving mortar attacks. A ground attack followed and large numbers of enemy troops entered the city. Street fighting was heavy, and resistance continued for the next two or three days. Several unsuccessful attempts were made by the enemy to seize the local railroad station. The element that invaded the city was estimated to be a two-battalion-sized force. One prong of the attack was directed at the 272d Military Police Company compound. By 3 February 1968, the civilian population began moving from the area. For several days, resistance was strong within the city, but it subsided gradually until approximately 7 February 1968, when operations returned to normal. The rapid reaction of the MP during this engagement succeeded in delaying the enemy forces and diverting the direction of their ground attack.

At approximately 0300 hours, 31 January, coordinated attacks were launched on the Bien Hoa Airbase, II Field Force Vietnam Headquarters, the Long Binh Ammunition Supply Depot, and various other friendly installations in the local area. Following a mortar and rocket attack, the perimeter of the Bien Hoa Airbase was penetrated. The city of Bien Hoa, patrolled by elements of the 720th Military Police Battalion, also was infiltrated by large numbers of Viet Cong. All roads into and out of the city were controlled by the enemy. After the attackers had succeeded in destroying one building and two jet aircraft, friendly forces killed 101 enemy and reestablished the perimeter of the airbase. The Long Binh Ammunition Supply Depot was penetrated by a company sized unit employing sapper techniques. Bangalore torpedoes and satchel charges were planted on several pads of ammunition in the area. Two security personnel, one from the 95th Military Police Battalion and one from the 212th Military Police (Sentry Dog) Company, were killed. One pad of ammunition was blown, producing secondary explosions by two additional pads. Ammunition loss was set at $1,677,000. The enemy capability for large scale attacks was quickly reduced by friendly forces using rapid ground counterattacks and supporting artillery and air fire. However, for several days, harassing incidents including light mortar and rocket attacks continued.

[SAMWolf]

By 1 February 1968, refugees were leaving the area in large numbers. It was felt that many enemy soldiers would attempt to leave the area along with the refugees. Therefore, checkpoint operations were intensified by the local MP. Local barge and shipping sites began to receive isolated attacks. Retreating enemy soldiers were believed to be responsible for the burning of many homes in their path. In conjunction with an attack on the Cogido Barge site, secured by the 95th Military Police Battalion, enemy forces burned the village to the ground. Friendly forces from the battalion, who were responding to the activity in the area, were ambushed. While firefights and resistance continued in the area, sweep and search operations were initiated by friendly tactical units.



On 2 February 1968, the village of Thu Duo received an enemy ground attack. When the Thu Duo Highway Patrol Station was threatened, the 720th Military Police Battalion, equipped with M113 vehicles, reinforced the station and established critical checkpoints in the area. By 3 February 1968, enemy activity in Long Binh/Bien Hoa had been reduced to small pockets of resistance. Attempts then were made by the 720th Military Police Battalion to resume its normal operation of escorting replacement and rotatees to and from the Bien Hoa Airbase. However, the operation was postponed due to the still existing enemy threat. Facing a tremendous backlog at local docks, mail, and fuel sites, and other activities that had suspended actions during the hostilities, the 720th Military Police Battalion then began to restore convoy operations. Shortages in fuel and ammunition made it imperative that resupply convoys return to normal operations at once. The combined police patrol, utilizing part of the 720th Military Police Battalion, the national police, and the Vietnamese military police, resumed patrol activities on Highway 1A from Long Binh to Saigon. By 5 February 1968, normal operations had been reestablished in the Long Binh/Bien Hoa areas.

On 31 January 1968, Vinh Long was attacked by an estimated force of two enemy battalions. The assault began with mortar attacks followed by ground attacks. One MP from the 148th Military Police Platoon was wounded. On 1 February 1968, Vinh Long received additional heavy mortar and small arms attacks directed at the city and its airfield. The MP Villa was evacuated due to attacks on the site, and the personnel from it moved to the airfield. Several items of equipment had to be abandoned when they evacuated the area. Enemy forces then proceeded to occupy the military police billets. On 2 February 1968, attempts were made to reoccupy the villa, but the first ones were unsuccessful. The men of the 148th Military Police Platoon remained with personnel from the 212th MP Company (SD) at the airfield until they were able to return to their villa later that day. By 3 February 1968, the MP elements in Vinh Long were able to perform regular operations, although sporadic resistance was still in evidence within the city.

Can Tho City and airfield received mortar and ground attacks on the morning of 31 January. The airbase was penetrated but the attack was repulsed, resulting in six Viet Cong being killed in action. In addition, an estimated fifty to seventy-five Viet Cong were killed in the city as a result of street fighting. The MP Villa in Can Tho also received numerous small arms attacks. US civilians from the area were moved into the military police compound for security reasons. On 1 February, fighting in the city continued, and the MP station received small arms fire. By 3 February, MP operations were almost back to normal in Can Tho with the exception of highway patrols. They could not be resumed because Highway Four was closed to traffic. It was blocked by several blown bridges and other obstacles.



Soc Trang began to receive mortar and ground attacks on the morning of 31 January. While they were generally unsuccessful, enemy troops dug in around the airfield and offered substantial resistance for a time. Street fighting and sporadic resistance continued for the next two or three days, but by 3 February, operations were almost back to normal.

The employment of MP firepower, mobility, and communications during the TET Offensive in the Republic of Vietnam provided a first line of defense against enemy combat forces. On many occasions during that crisis, MP were the first to become aware of enemy threats and to become engaged in open combat in major cities and other built-up areas. During this general offensive the MP responded rapidly and prevented or delayed Viet Cong as well as North Vietnamese Army attempts to infiltrate major cities throughout the Republic. The ability of the MP to remain in direct contact with the enemy and to block their advance, pending the arrival of tactical units, attests to their close affinity to a combat arm. Even after the arrival of tactical units, the MP remained on the scene and performed a variety of direct support missions including escorting convoys carrying critical supplies and equipment, evacuating prisoners, and providing security at vital installations.

[SAMWolf]

'One of the Brigade's finest moments came during the TET Offensive of 1968 where the 716th Military Police Battalion, which included the 527th Military Police Company presently with the Brigade, was the principal force that defeated the Viet Cong's attack on Saigon.'

-- globalsecurity.org

[SAMWolf]

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[SAMWolf]

Thanks, Doughty!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Everybody.

Hurry Back Fiddlstix!
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You Know The Drill
Click the Pics

[GailA]

Today's graphic candles for the Columbia's crew

[Jen]

PING! It's a new day and a new Foxhole!

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[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Jen]

Good morning!!!!! :-)

[Jen]

Thanks for this terrific thread, Sam

SALUTE to Military Police!

[facedown]

GI directs a group of captured VC taken in Hue during TET 2/68

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM, all

[larryjohnson]

On a thread about Tet a few yeas ago,there was a link to a homepage of the military police unit honoring their own defending Siagon. Tower 051 guarding Tan So Nhut AB, was overrun along with that whole area of the base. Every day when I was there 70-71 I rode(or run) by that tower on the perimeter rode to my weather satellte tracking site(did I post a pic?). It was there in 68,but according to one of my NCOs who had been there then, the VC/ NVA passed by our compound,only intent on the attack on aircraft at that end of the runways. Along the road was a mass grave marked by a large sign in Vietnamese with a Christian Cross and a Buddist symbol. The MP site has a picture. So do I. What I did not know until today was that the site was in memory of VC/NVA soldiers buried there,placed by the RVN as countrymen wishing for peace. It may have been the only VC/NVA burial site. In 98 an MP returned and found Tower 051 the only tower remaining but does not mention the burial site. I wonder if the communists destroyed a memorial to their own.

[larryjohnson]

Vietnam Security Police Association (USAF): Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam, 377th Security Police Squadron, Stories & Photos!
http://www.vspa.com/tsn-to-the-last-man.htm

[manna]

Present!

[Jen]

Happy Sunday morning FRiends! I hope you have a good day. I'm going to visit my mom today, but I'll be back this evening. See y'all later.

[firewalk]

thanks for the ping....bttt

[Liz]

Thank you veterans.

[SAMWolf]

Thank you GailA. A fitting way to open the Foxhole this morning.