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1967 Time Line ~ 615th MP Company 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Long Binh Post ~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
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 18t Bde. |
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It also assumed responsibility for the POW escort operations within Corps Zones III and IV and the physical security of the Long Binh Post vehicle and pedestrian gates, physical security of all POW medical facilities on Long Binh Post and the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon.
Concurrently they also assumed responsibility for Operation SHOTGUN to provide escort for the incoming and departing troops moving between the 90th Replacement Battalion at Long Binh Post and the Bien Hoa Air Base. |
16 April The companies 3rd Platoon, still stationed at Pershing Field near Saigon and assigned to the 92nd MP Battalion, was detached and relocated with the rest of the company on Long Binh Post. This reassignment provided the Company with the much needed staffing to handle its present commitments with the 720th MP Battalion. |
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May The Company started their transition from the canvas tents to the new all season Australian manufactured ADAMS Huts (Advanced Design Aluminum Military Shelter). It was an instant morale boost for the troops who were tired of living in the field tents that became moldy in the rainy season, and dust covered and fire prone in the dry season. |
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12 May PFC William Leroy Sandes, age 19, of Denver, Colorado was killed in action at "Gasoline Alley #1" during a Viet Cong ambush while conducting a Road Runner night security patrol on Highway 1A. PFC Sanders died from wounds received by small arms fire, several other MPs were wounded but survived. |
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8 July Members of the 615th along with A and B Company of the 720th, supported the 9th Infantry Division, 1st Australian Task Force, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation PADDINGTON. The joint operations were conducted in the area of Nui Dat and Sem Moc, seventy-five miles east of Saigon. |
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11 July Five MPs of the Company were transported to Bear Cat. At 0700 hours (7:00 AM), the MPs were to accompany 53 POW’s on a flight (aircraft mission #21) from Bear Cat to Can Tho. |
19 July The 720th MP Battalion assigned one Officer and fifteen Enlisted Men from the 615th MP Company to support the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation EMPORIA. The detachment performed traffic and convoy control, defile control, traffic accident investigation, control of indigenous personnel, Prisoner of War guards, Medical Civic Action Program security (Med-Cap's) perimeter security, and cordon and search operations. 21 July Casualties Operation EMPORIA Elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) escorted by 10 MP's from the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, were ambushed by two Battalions of the 275th Viet Cong Main Force Regiment, 5th NVA Division along Inter Provisional Route QL20 in Long Kahn Province while providing the convoy escort. |
The convoy was pinned down in the open roadway for approximately two hours and received heavy small arms, automatic weapons, and anti armor weapons fire. The attack was finally broken when supporting elements of the 11th ACR arrived to assist the embattled convoy. 28 July Members of the Company were presented awards in a ceremony on Long Binh Post. |
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The Company provided manpower for combined MP and Can Sat patrols in the Tan An area. The Company also provided one NCO and seven Enlisted Men for Discipline Law and Order patrols of the 173rd Airborne Brigade area at the Bien Hoa Air Base while the 173rd was in the process of transferring personnel to another operational area. |
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1 September CPT Arnold "Arnie" Daxe, Jr. assumed command of the 615th MP Company from CPT Alfred A. Alexander. CPT Daxe initiated a contest to name the 615th MP Company. The selection process results in the name Bloodhounds and the necessary paperwork is sent through channels and approved. 20 October Operation STABILIZE The 720th MP Battalion was given a tactical area of responsibility one mile south of Long Binh Post under Operation STABILIZE. This was the first time in the history of the United States Armed Forces and the U. S. Army Military Police Corps that an MP unit was assigned a counterinsurgency infantry mission. The twenty two square mile area encompassed four principal villages. Its purpose as the name implied, was to stabilize the area, thus increasing the security of United States Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) Headquarters and Long Binh Post. In addition to such familiar tasks as village and highway patrol, the operation required the men of the 720th to perform duties in their secondary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), in which they are required to fight as infantrymen. |
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In preparation for the reconnaissance, ambush and combat patrols they were to conduct, the entire 615th MP Company and 40 men from the three organic companies (A,B, & C) of the 720th MP Battalion attended refresher classes on recon and ambush patrol methods and techniques taught by instructors from the 5th Special Forces Group. The MPs assigned had a special tab (unofficial)n manufactured to denote their new assignment .Click on patch Icon to right to enlarge > |
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The Company was assigned an Area of Operations in support of the 720th MP Battalion, Operation STABILIZE, to conduct ambush and recon patrols east of the Battalion TAOR. Click on map icon > |
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Members of the 615th MP Company serving as site security, bulldozed the Finger of Land in the TAOR of all vegetative cover and left only a narrow dirt roadway along half of the top that connected with Highway QL15. |
The exact dates of the clearing operation (sometime in the fall of 1967) are unknown. Sketchy information identifies the Engineer unit as elements of the newly arrived 20th Engineer Brigade, headquartered at Long Binh Post, August of 1967. If you can identify the dates and verify the Engineer unit(s) assigned to the clearing operation, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page. |
29 October Celebrating their safe homecoming and first night stateside, pending discharge, MP’s from the 615th and A & B Company, 720th MP Battalion, enjoyed themselves at the San Francisco Playboy Club. The celebration continued on to another night club until dawn. |
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18 November A Company ambush team suffered two wounded during an exchange of hand grenades between their patrol and a Viet Cong force of unknown size while in a night ambush position in the Battalion TAOR just south of the Finger of Land. |
28 November ? At 0538 Hours (5:38 AM), a Company patrol, Smaller Skulls [radio call sign] notified Battalion TOC that a vehicle accident occurred at Thu Duc intersection on Highway 1A. Two U.S. Army vehicles were involved. Some injuries, no further information at this time. Long Binh Post Provost Marshals office notified. |
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26 November The Company ambush team again suffered one wounded during another exchange of hand grenades between the patrol and a Viet Cong force of unknown size while in a night ambush position in an area just south of the Finger of Land. December The Company discipline, law, and order patrols in Bien Hoa were reassigned to the area of Long Binh Post. |
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6 December Several members of the company including, PFC Steven C. Jones and others yet to be identified, were detailed to augment a B Company Ambush & Recon team in site security at the old French Fort in the Battalion Tactical Area Of Responsibility during the recovery of ammunition from a barge sunk during a 4 December ambush on the Dong Nai River.. The detail lasted approximately 5 days ending on or about 11 December without further incident. |
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13 December PFC John Edward Davis, age,18 of North Platte, Nebraska, died as the result of a non-hostile Air-Boat accident while on river patrol in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility.
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18 December The 720th MP Battalion and attached 615th MP Company were awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period of 19 October 1966 to 31 May 1967 under General Order 6492. 24-25 December Reflections of how the MPs of the 615th spent their Christmas Eve and Day. Short Timers Christmas Anxiety SP/4 Louis F. Conte, 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, January 1967 to December 1967. |
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If you recognize or participated in any of the events listed on this page and would like to contribute information, personal stories,official documents, or photographs, please use the Email Link provided above. 
11th ACR
89th Group
720th
9t ID
5th RAR
173rd
5th SF
