~~~~ 720th MP Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~~~~

"The Mushroom Cloud"
Reflections of the TET New Years Offensive 1968

        It was the first morning of Tet, 31 January 68. The sun was up so it had to be sometime after 0600 (6:00 AM). We had all been up since about 0300 (3:00 AM), when the whole thing started. We learned later that “Charlie” [Viet Cong] had breached the ammo dump perimeter and was running around throwing satchel charges onto the berms of ammo. I remember one in particular. You could see the shock wave surrounding the mushroom cloud as it exploded. Pretty sight...but!!!

        We did send some of our MP's in a duce and a half [2&1/2 ton truck] to the ammo dump to help the security forces chase Charlie down. Who went? I don't remember.

        Also that morning CPT Arnold “Arnie” Daxe, Jr. our Commanding Officer, and a few of us were listening to the radio in one of the jeeps outside the orderly room and some VC or NVA apparently got hold of a PRC-25 radio [field radio] and kept counting from one to ten in Vietnamese to try and block our transmissions. The little PRC-25 didn't hold up to the larger radios. We could talk over it. I'll bet that pissed that VC/NVA off!!!

SGT James F. Ruffer, 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, November 1967 to August 1968.