The biggest thing I remember is that we had this very real feeling of isolation. From our Company, from our Battalion, from the rest of Vietnam, and from the rest of the Army. Because we were spread out as a company, and because there really weren't a lot of Americans in the Delta after July of 1969. And, as an MP platoon, we were billeted by ourselves in Vinh Long, with a canal on one side, and the highway on the other. And the ARVN's serving as "insulation" between those things and us.
We were away from the Vinh Long Airfield. We were away from the MACV compound. And, we were removed from all the other GI's. Very different from the duty of people in Saigon, Long Binh, or divisional MP’s, that were surrounded by GI's, or even other companies of MP's. Even the platoon in Can Tho lived right in the middle of Ben Xi Moi, which was the bar, teahouse, and red light district. I guess you could call us the "country cousins." SP/4 Charles M. Phelan, 188th MP Company & B Company, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, July 1969 to September 1970. |
 SP/4 Phelan |