~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association Vietnam History Project ~ |
Prostitution Control ~ Can Tho |
The first day I reported to the Can Tho MP compound, 22nd Provost Marshal Detachment, B Company, 720th MP Battalion, was approximately the middle of December 1971. We were shown to our sleeping quarters in the penthouse on the roof of the station. I was then led down to the second story where the Provost Marshal's Office was located. At that time PFC Doyle and myself were the new guys in the outfit. |
PFC Doyle
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SP/4 Coppolo
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I was introduced to a SP/4 Coppollo and was informed that he was stateside bound in a very short time, and that I was to be his replacement. Coppollo explained that he was a clerk and that his primary duty was to register the hundreds of bar girls that occupied the dozens of bars in the Ben Xe Moi area, across the street from the MP station. If memory serves it was a two or three block area. We then went to his desk where he explained to me how he kept his records. Coppollo maintained a blue line notebook on each bar. Inside he kept small passport type pictures of the girls that worked there. He said the Mama-sans who managed the prostitutes, supplied the pictures. |
Also, he kept a record of their ages and addresses and, documents showing that the girls had been vaccinated for venereal disease. I noticed there were hundreds of pictures in his files of girls with either their names or bar names or both, hand written on the back in pencil. He did not have to tell me that it would be difficult to keep the records up to date. We worked on the pictures for a while trying to clean them up. After that he escorted me out of the compound for a tour of the area around the MP station. |
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Our first stop was to the Medic's office that was located just north of the station in a row of storefronts that included the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) office and a tailor shop that was operated by Indians. I would later come to find out that they did good work there including alterations and custom made clothes. Prices were cheap! He introduced me to the Medic and we sat around and made small talk for a while. I'm sure he explained the procedure for shots but I don't recall the details. For lunch we took the truck down to the mess hall where I soon learned that the food was very good. Future meals there would include two Thanksgiving and two Christmas dinners of roast turkey and all the fixings. After lunch we took the truck back to the compound and proceeded to tour each and every bar. He introduced me to all the Mama san's and we compared notes as to which girls were still working there. Pictures were exchanged!
I learned the bar girls of Ben Xe Moi Street moved around a lot from bar to bar due to disputes over conditions and wages. A lot of the girls would also move from one city to another. I believe this process went on for a few days until I was properly introduced to all parties concerned. |
New York Club
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PFC Baldwin |
I was very impressed by the rapport that Coppollo had accomplished with the locals. He truly was a a fine example of a good will ambassador. At any rate, by the end of the day I decided that this was not my cup of tea. I had just graduated from MP school and was thirsty for action. We ate dinner that night at the mess hall down the street and then Doyle and I hit the bars across the street for some partying. |
| PFC Robert J. Baldwin, 22nd Provost Marshal Office, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Can Tho Detachment, December 1970 to January 1972 |
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