212th

1965

Sometime in the fall or winter the first handler teams of the 88th MP Company (K9), MACV, were assigned to the new detachment to provide perimeter security for the Soc Trang Air Base. PFC Robert C. Gitchell was one of the first handlers assigned. They slept in tents and the K9’s were kenneled in their original shipping crates. The dogs were fed in a box made from an old CONEX container.

Personal Reflections "I arrived in Saigon with the first handlers that eventually formed the 88th MP Company (K9). We flew out of Saigon for Soc Trang on a Caribou, twin-engine cargo plane. Living arrangements were pretty damn crude at Soc Trang when we got there. About half way thru my tour I got promoted to SP/4, and moved to Can Tho airfield as assistant detachment leader, and stayed there until the end of my first of three tours in Viet Nam. " SP/4 Robert C. Gitchell, 88th MP Company (K9), MACV & 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog), 89th MP Group, MACV, & 95th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, 1965-1966.

Gitchell was later promoted to SP/4 and transferred to the Can Tho Detachment in 1966 as the Assistant Detachment Leader.

1965 Miscellaneous Photographs

Personnel & Facilities

.	88th & 212th Veterans of Soc Trang, we need your photographs here!

1966

1966 Miscellaneous Photographs

Personnel & Facilities

.	88th & 212th Veterans of Soc Trang, we need your photographs here!

1967

In September the company subordinate to the 95th MP Battalion (Long Binh Post) for administrative and logistical support, and the 89th MP Group of the 18th MP Brigade for operational control, moved its 1st Platoon and headquarters, consisting of approximately ninety soldiers from Pershing Field, Saigon in Gia Dinh Province, to Long Binh Post in Bien Hoa Province, both in III Corps Tactical Zone.

The company was reorganized to three platoons of two sections each. Each section was assigned to a particular military installation. The two sections of the 3rd Platoon were assigned to IV Corps Tactical Zone in the Mekong Delta Region at the Vinh Long Army airfield in Vinh Long Province, and the Soc Trang (Khanh Hung) section already on site since early in 1966, continued their mission at The Soc Trang U.S. Army airfield in Ba Xuyen Province.

The detachment members adopted the unit nickname as "Hellions On Paws" the term Hellions came from the 89th MP Group.

1967 Miscellaneous Photographs

Personnel & Facilities

G0899	Two unidentified men at the detachment sign.
G0906	Over-flight of Soc Trang & Airfield.

1968

31 January In the morning the Soc Trang compound began to receive mortar and ground attacks. While they were generally unsuccessful, enemy troops dug in around the airfield and offered substantial resistance for a time. The attacks primarily consisted of 75mm recoilless rifle fire and two instances of mortar fire, several were accompanied by minor ground probes and assaults of the flight line area with small arms and automatic weapons fire.

Street fighting and sporadic resistance continued, but by 29 February, operations were almost back to normal.

5 May, 0200 hours The airbase compound received 25-30 mortar rounds. Detachment handler PFC David E. Reynolds, US51774856 was Injured suffering a cut hand.

August SP/4 Donald P. Ray (212th) filmed his arrival at Soc Trang Airfield on a flight from Saigon. The film is 6 minutes and 15 seconds long, use this link to view it. Flight into Soc Trang Army Airfield.mov

1968 Miscellaneous Photographs

Personnel & Facilities

.	212th Veterans of Soc Trang, we need your photographs here!

1969

The detachment needed a training area to maintain a regular training program, so the handlers took it upon themselves to build one under the direction of the NCOIC SGT Jerry E. Howell. They used left over ammunition crates and any other scrap lumber and materials they could scrounge.

SSG Robert C. Gitchell who was one of the first handlers to open the Soc Trang Detachment in 1965 as a PFC with the 88th MP Company (K9), and was the Specialist 4th Class assistant squad leader of the Can Tho Detachment in early 1966, returned on his second tour of Vietnam and served with the 212th MP Company Soc Trang Detachment again in 1969-1970.

Now he was the Noncommissioned Officer In Charge.

1969 Miscellaneous Photographs

Personnel & Facilities

G3312	SP/4 Eric G. "Doc" Osen and K9 Storm.
G3491	SP/4 David Dreher and his K9 Smokie
G3509	SP/4 Osen with AK-47 and VC Flag.
G3510	Unidentified 188th MP Company Soc Trang patrol.
G3512	Unidentified handler and his K9 Duke.
G3513	Unidentified handler and his K9 Prince.
G3514	Unidentified handler and his K9 in the training yard.
G3515	Unidentified handler and his K9 in the training yard.
G3516	Unidentified handler and his K9 in the training yard.

1970

SSG Robert C. Gitchell who served at the detachment as the SP/4 Assistant Detachment Leader in early 1966, now had the distinction of being the NCOIC at the detachment when it was deactivated.

1 November The six Sentry Dog Teams working the Soc Trang Detachment in support of the 121st Aviation Battalion, Soc Trang Airfield, were relocated to Long Binh Post concurrent with the Army of The Republic of Vietnam [ARVN], military authorities taking over the airfield under the Vietnamization Program.

1970 Miscellaneous Photographs

A "?" following the photo number denotes further identifications are needed, and an Email Link is provided.

Personnel & Facilities

212th Veterans of Soc Trang, we need your photographs here!

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