~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association Vietnam History Project ~

The Language Barrier ~ Can Tho
 

        We had a separate police station on the east side of Can Tho that we worked out of. It was really isolated from our main compound.

        If we got into trouble it would take a while for back up to reach us. Especially since none of the side streets were marked, you couldn't tell anybody where you were until you got to know the city better.

        I would ride patrol with a TC or QC (Vietnamese Army MP) for twelve hours and we couldn't talk to each other, very little at best.

        I remember one incident when we went down one of the side streets (I always drove), and my TC partner started tapping my arm saying "no-no." I asked "what?" The TC is very excited and says "VC-VC!" I said OK and kept driving. Now the TC is so excited he started grabbing my arm saying "Boo-coo VC," (boo-coo is bastardized French, from beaucoup, meaning "much" or "many.") I said "OK," and kept driving. The TC bails out of the jeep and I watch him running in the rearview mirror. I immediately turned the jeep around and headed back.
 
SP/4 Bosmans

        In another incident I was driving with a TC and QC and didn't have any idea where we were. The QC tells me to stop in front of a certain building, which I did. Suddenly they bailed out and started running after what looked like a civilian. There was no warning or explanation, they were gone, I lost sight of them in the crowd. I didn't know if they were running after someone or away from me expecting an ambush. I stopped the jeep and locked and loaded my M16. They returned about twenty minutes later like nothing ever happened. I went back and changed my shorts.

SP/4 Richard J. Bosmans, B & C Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, April 1971 to January 1972
 
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