After returning from a visit to my 3rd Platoon at their detachment at Tan An, they were attached to the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, Long An Province, I hit the rack at 2200 hours [10:00 PM].

        At a bit after midnight, I felt glass breaking and tasted a funny dust in my mouth. I jolted up in my sack as a fluorescent light fixture in the ceiling above me was dislodged by an explosion. There were loud explosions in the distance; it appeared that Long Binh was under attack, or damn close to it.

        The Tet Offensive had begun, though I didn’t know it at that moment. I quickly got my gear on, grabbed my web gear and weapon, and ran to the Tactical Operations Center. Many of us were wiping sleep from our eyes, but there was too much to do for any lingering thoughts of blanket and pillow. Find our people, take inventory, reinforce the static guard posts around Long Binh, set up a radio system outside the orderly room, get everyone into full combat gear and out of their tents, and grab rifles and ammo and see what was going on.

        By then flares were lighting up the sky, tracer rounds were going off, dull explosions were reverberating from the perimeter, and all sorts of things were racing through our minds. Many were praying and wishing they had written home more often.

       We stayed in our positions all night monitoring our radios, and heard the battle of Saigon going on because we also monitored the WACO, code name for the 716th MP Battalion radio net in Saigon. I got some of the chatter taped because I had set up my portable radio in the back of my jeep, listening to the warriors talking excitedly about their ongoing fight with the VC. It was obvious to all of us that the war was never going to be the same after this.

        The next day we dispatched a V100 commando vehicle with crew to Saigon to help out the 716th MP’s. It was a few days before we were able to restore radio communication with our platoon to the south, but for a few injuries and lost equipment they came through OK, even though their compound was attacked throughout the night.

CPT Arnold Daxe, Jr .(COL Ret.) Commanding Officer, 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, February 1967 to February 1968.