Battalion Reaction Force, In defense of the Post Perimeter
22-23 February 1969 Post Tet New Years Attack of Long Binh Post

Battalion Reaction Force A & C Companies and members of the 615th MP Company formed the bulk of the Battalion Reaction Force. B Company personnel were on standby as their company reaction force if needed to assist their own Ambush Squads who were outside the southern perimeter at the time of the attack.

With the Long Binh Post under an enemy rocket, mortar, and small arms ground attack, every extra MP available along with cooks, clerks, and truck drivers were rushed to bolster the southern perimeter defenses. Combined, they stopped several enemy probes at the wire during the early morning hours. Ten of the enemy actually made it through and onto post but were tracked down and killed or captured by the Reaction Forces and roving patrols. Throughout the early morning hours the Reaction Force and perimeter guards were kept buisy suppressing the enemy probes and small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenade [RPG] fire.

Mororized Patrol.... SGT Thomas R. Tackaberry and SP/4 John F. Leiker of C Company were on a Reaction Force motorized patrol along the inside perimeter when their vehicle came under RPG and small arms fire. They returned heavy automatic weapons fire, and directed air and artillery support onto the enemy positions suppressing the probe. Both were later awarded Army Commendation Medals for Valor for their actions.

You Need It, You Got It.... SP/4 Terry L. Fenner of A Company, responded as a Reaction Force member to an enemy breach of the perimeter wire. While under enemy fire he ran from bunker to bunker to take badly needed ammunition to the men manning the bunkers. SP/4 Fenner also led ambulances to the casualties and insured quick medical attention to his comrades. For his actions he was later awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Valor.

A Busy Night.... "It was so long ago..But here goes, to the best I can recall they started getting small arms fire down at Cogido and we were dispatched down there. About the time we got there the rockets started hitting Long Binh and we were recalled to the base and sent to the Gate to back up the bunkers. I think in my original message I called it Gate #11 but I think Gate #11 was where Highway #317 and Highway #15 came together. The gate we were sent to was down below the old cement plant near where the 212th MP's (Sentry Dogs) were located, but I am not sure of the number. There was a lot of firing to the left of us but as I recall we only had a few rounds come into our area. We could see the artillery rounds landing across Highway #316 and the Cobra gunships doing their thing so there was not so much action at our location. I recall that CPL Parker and his unit was dispatched to Gate #11 (Hwy #15 & Hwy #317) and they really had a lot going on at that location. I recall that several NVA got onto Long Binh and it took several days to get all of them. I also recall seeing one NVA POW being brought into the MP station the next morning. I do remember seeing a large number of enemy dead along Highway #317." Edited from information provided by,  PFC Robert L. Foster, 615th MP Company, 95th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, April 1968 to April 1969.

The Ammo Run.... In the early morning darkness of 23 February 1969 the enemy ground assault against the southern perimeter of Long Binh Post was in full force, and the ammunition of the A Company Battalion Reaction Force element was running low. A call went out to the company for an ammo resupply and 1LT Jeff Smith, SGT Ernest L. “Sandy” Popovich and PFC Marti Oesterreion, all of A Company, 720th MP Battalion responded.

They headed out in the darkness on an interior post road towards Gate #11 located at the intersection of Highway 317 and QL-15 where an enemy thrust was being repulsed. As their gun jeep neared the area just north of the gate, a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) streaked across the roadway and struck a utility pole next to their jeep as it passed.

The explosion sprayed the jeep and it’s occupants with lethal fragments and caused it to crash, throwing all three MP’s into the darkness. SGT Popovich stated "We were traveling along and then all of a sudden the jeep exploded. The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground and somebody was standing over me yelling my name."

LT Smith, the passenger, injured his right arm. SGT Popovich, the machine gunner was struck by fragments, and pushed by the force into the gun and its pole mount before being thrown from the jeep. He suffered three breaks in his right shoulder, severe laceration of the right leg from his thigh to the center of the shin, a broken sternum, and a head wound. PFC Oesterreion, the driver, suffered a severe fracture of the hip and other, as of yet unidentified injuries.

The three MP’s were taken to the 24th Evacuation Hospital for treatment. LT Smith was treated, released, and returned to light duty that same day. SGT Popovich remained in the hospital for two weeks and returned to A Company on light duty.... "When it came time to send me some place the doctor said he could send me to Japan or the Philippines. I like a dummy, (the new hole in the head may have had something to do with it) told him I had seen both places and if he could not send me home send me back to my unit, and he did." PFC Oesterreion was hospitalized, his final duty status after treatment at this time is unknown. Edited from information provided by, SSG Ernest L. Popovich (SFC Ret.), A & B Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, November 1968 to November 1969.

Fill In The Gaps.... I was in A Company, a machine gunner on a gun jeep on Operation Overtake. On that night we completed 2 or 3 convoy escorts from the Newport Docks to Long Binh Post and were at the provost marshals office near the main gate when a 122mm rocket hit the mess hall across the street from where we were. An officer arrived, I believe he was the post commander, and ordered us to follow him. He said there had been a breach of the southern perimeter and we were going to seal it off. We had four gun jeeps armed with 4-M60 Machne guns, 4-M79 Grenade Launchers, 4-M16 Rifles and 12 men. We arrived near the perimeter, dismounted the jeeps and proceeded down the berm where we found a bunker blown out and occupied by enemy. The officer lead the attack and we re-took the bunker. He was wounded in the hand, bandaged it up and continued to direct the battle placing us on the berm along the perimeter breach at various intervals. He informed us there were an estimated 100 enemy inside trying to get to the fuel dump and ammo dump. He ordered me to face the wire and secure the breach and fire on all incoming forces and instructed another machine gunner to face away from the perimeter wire to deal with the force behind us. There were many skirmishes the rest of the night. At dawn we had to sweep the inside and fight the NVA there, then go outside the perimeter and sweep to the mine field removing all the dead enemy bodies. Along the berm I counted 135 bodies. We captured some that were badly wounded, but for the most part they fought to the death. There are a lot more details but this is the 25 cent version. SP/4 Warren L. Odham, Jr. A Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, September 1968-December 1969.

Letters of Appreciation Battalion Reaction Force members not receiving specific individual commendations were recognize for their performance of duty under enemy fire and received Letters of Appreciation issued by LTC Philip M. Suess, Jr. Provost Marshal, Long Binh/Bien Hoa Area, Long Binh Sector.