18th Bde.

       I enlisted in the Army after graduating high school in Rockville, Maryland and completed basic tarining at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The Army assigned several of us to the Military Police and we were sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia. From MP school I received my orders for Vietnam and arrived in March of 1971.

My first taste of action came while at the 90th Replacement Battalion when an enemy 122mm rocket attack occurred during a formation. Within three days I received my orders and went to the B Company detachment at Vin Long where I became the commanders driver.         There was a posting for volunteers to form V100 crews and work attached to Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV). I volunteered and we were sent to Phuoc Vinh and performed road security and convoy escort duties for the Phuoc Vinh to Vinh Long run.         For a brief time many of us were detached to Can Tho to assist in shutting down the red light district due to the ramped drug abuse and distribution problem that had developed. The assignment lasted for approximately 30 days. After Can Tho we returned to Phuoc Vinh and the detachment was later moved to My Tho which was south of Saigon.         Again we settled into the job of road security and convoy escort duties. As my tour was drawing to a close I received an unexpected bonus of a 28 day early DEROS.

        From Vietnam I was assigned to the 259th Military Police Company at White Sands, New Mexico where for the first time as an MP I performed the standard discipline and law and order mission.

        After receiving an honorable discharge I enrolled in college at East Texas State and joined the National Guard. The Texas National Guard assignment was with a mechanized unit from which I later transferred to a Cavalry unit in New Mexico.

        I retired from the National Guard in 1995 as a First Sergeant with 22 years of service. I am currently working for the United States Department of Agriculture in an investigative capacity.