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Phuoc Vinh approximately 30 miles north-north-east of Saigon In, III Corps Tactical Zone, had been a major base of the 1st Infantry Division prior to the 1st Air Cavalry Division moving in during November 1968. It became the 1st Cavalry division forward base until the division left Vietnam in the spring of 1971.

1967

16 September The Battalion supported the 1st Infantry Division on resupply missions to their Phuoc Vinh base camp through convoy control, defile and traffic accident investigation through 24 September. The Battalion records for this time do not indicate which specific company or companies were involved.

1st ID

23 November Elements of the 720th MP Battalion were assigned to assist the 1st MP Company of the 1st Infantry Division with the transport escort of the 101st Airborne Division from the Bien Hoa Airfield to the new division base camp located at Phouc Vinh under Operation QUICKSILVER.

101st

1968

1 November through 11 November Elements of the 1st Air Cavalry moved into the Phuoc Vinh Base Camp. C Company escorted the convoy from the Newport Docks (Saigon) to Check Point #81 where the 1st MP Company, 1st Infantry Division elements continued the escort to Phuoc Vinh.

It Just Wasn’t My Time We started moving the 1st Air Cavalry en masse to these base camps to start setting up an umbrella defense around Saigon before the Tet New years of 1969.

We moved the entire 1st Air Cavalry from Long Binh/Bien Hoa to Quan Loi and Phouc Vinh over about a two week period without any major incidents. There could have been some mines with casualties, but very few.

I had the closest call of my tour on the way to Phouc Vinh on the first convoy. I was in lead gun jeep and had to stop the convoy to await arrival of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) from the Cav to lead and clear the road. When it arrived I started the convoy up and the second truck behind me hit a mine and blew up where I had been sitting. We either did not weigh enough, or did not have wide enough wheel base to activate the mine detonator. From that time on I didn't worry about dying, figured it was not my time and nothing I could do about it anyway.

Sorry, I digressed, but suffice it to say I believe the name and call signs of DEVIL ,LEAD and IRON were probably from 1st Infantry Division. The fourth convoy was ZINC and went to Dau Tieng.. After moving the 1st Air Cavalry into place, we continued to run resupply missions until I left in September of 1969. 1LT Herbert William"Herb" Bradley III, C Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, October 1968 to September 1969.

19 December C Company was tasked with the escort of the resupply convoy from Long Binh Post to the 1st Air Cavalry Division base camp at Phuc Vinh. The convoy employed 2 gun jeeps and six MP's as security escort 7 days a week escorting up to 170 vehicles over the 110 mile round trip from Long Binh Post.

1969

Because there are no Battalion S3, Staff Duty Logs in the National Archives for the entire year of 1969, there is no official information available on the Phuoc Vinh Convoy escorts conducted by elements of the 720th MP Battalion during this time period. If you have any information, stories or photographs to pass along use the Email Link at the top of this page.

1970

Can you identify the locations of these photographs >

Song Be River Bridge ~ Highway LTL 1/A

Running The Phuoc Vinh Convoy SGT Ralph C. Saunders, C Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, 1969-1970.

1971

12 March The 720th MP Battalion ended its responsibility for escort and security duties for the Phuoc Vinh Convoy.