Camp Widder located just south of Duc Hoa was a combined Army Of The Republic Of South Vietnam (ARVN) Airborne and U.S. 5th Special Forces (Airborne) camp. It was named after CPT David J. W. Widder, 5th Special Forces, who was killed in action 24 March 1965.

5th

The original camp B-35 was located in Hiep Hoa, Hau Nghia Province in April of 1966, closed December 1966, and moved to Duc Hoa, Hau Nghia Province, due west of Gia Dihn suburb of Saigon. The camp was part of the defensive circle around Saigon.

The Special Forces B Teams operating out of the camp worked with indigenous forces along the Cambodian border in intelligence gathering and interdiction of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces that crossed into South Vietnam.

Sometime in late December 1967 or early January 1968 PFC Carson Sabine, and his partner SP/4 Babbs, both from A Company, 720th MP Battalion, were assigned as the MP Detachment at Camp Widder. They lived in an old French Villa just outside the main gate of the camp.

Their assignment was to train and work combined foot patrols with the local Canh Sat (Vietnamese National Police) contingent stationed in Duc Hoa. The MP's and their Canh Sat counterparts would walk from Camp Widder to the village for evening foot patrols. The majority of the U.S. troops that visited the village were members of the Special Forces unit.

As of the posting of this page (28 April 2005) it is unknown how long the Battalion staffed this detachment and what unit if any replaced the Battalion MP's when they departed.

Information, personal stories, photographs of Battalion MP's that worked or visited Camp Widder. Please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.