Stateside, the new decade ushered in the move of families from the rural America into the cities where the manufacturing jobs were to be found. The industrial driven economy was good, and showed signs of maintaining long term growth. College attendance by WW II veterans under the GI bill began to grow, and the advent of daily live television broadcast news brought images of the brutality of the communist movement in Europe, along with the reality of the atomic age and the second “Red Scare” into the American households.

     The year would also be a major pivotal time for the U.S. and its Free World Allies when the Communist Chinese and Soviet Russians expanded their Cold War strategic influence by having their third world surrogates of North Korea and North Vietnam intensify their militaristic quest for reunification in East Asia and Indochina.

     Prior to this new Communist hot war strategy via surrogates, the national and foreign policy of the United States was to pursue worldwide communist containment through the threat of mutually assured destruction, and a policy of diplomacy and economic and military aid to the threatened Free World countries and regions. The stragety would now have to expand to include military intervention, and the change would fuel further increases in defense spending to protect not only our national defense, but to also continue the much needed military aid and economic assistance to the new war ravaged countries and their Free World allies.

     To support their new strategy, the Soviet’s also launched an expansive propaganda “hurricane” throughout Europe, in the Mediterranean, India, Iran, Japan, Philippine’s, and Indonesia, and it was all timed to tie up U.S. troops, aid and materials as North Korea secretly prepared for an all out hot war that President Truman did not see coming.

     “I reported to CPT William Ghan, Company A at Camp Burness after completing OCS (Officers Candidate School) and the MP officer basic course at Fort Gordon, Georgia, the year before.

     My general duties in Company A consisted of some supervisory jobs in the administrative field, such as supply, maintenance, messing, personnel, and the inevitable paperwork. I was also detailed to serve as Military Police Duty Officer (MPDO) about two or three times weekly, for an eight-hour tour each time. The MPDO supervised the MP personnel assigned to perform police duties throughout Tokyo.

     These details involved at least fifty men, and sometimes a hundred or more, depending on a decision by the PM’s office (PMO), which had operational control of the battalion. Duty MP’s reported to the PMO, where a police desk, communications, and a detention facility were maintained. In the center of Tokyo, the PMO was one block from the Dai Ichi Building, headquarters for all military forces in the country. The PMO was also a few blocks away from, and in sight of, the Imperial Place Plaza where Emperor Hirohito lived.”   2LT (MG Retired) Paul M. Timmerberg, Able & Headquarters Company, 1950-1953.

4 January The battalion basketball team had a stellar record as the 1949-1950 GHQ, Headquarters & Service Group intramural season was winding down. Of the nine teams in the Tokyo League Division they held first place with a record of 8-0. Their second place rivals from GHQ Staff Battalion with a record of 7-1, were the only immediate threat.

     In addition to the intramural interleague play, the battalion also had several players and one coach selected to participate on the 1950 Headquarters & Service Group “Athletics” basketball team, involved in the Far East Command basketball league.

12 January In a speech, President Truman’s Secretary of State Dean Acheson, pledged that the United States will fight to defend all territory within its "defensive perimeter," which he defines to include Japan, and the Philippines—but not Korea. Soviet leader Josef Stalin misinterprets this speech to mean that he can green-light North Korean leader Kim Il Sung's "liberation" of South Korea, with little risk of intervention by the United States.

7 February President Truman officially recognized the formal establishment of the State of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Laos, and the Kingdom of Cambodia as independent states within the French Union. The recognition was soon followed by military and economic aid to restore stability and pursue their democratic development in an area under Soviet Russian Communist expansionism.

10 February CPT L. B. McConnell of HQ Company was elected as a board manager of the Japan Chapter of the Quartermaster Association, during a gathering of 125 officers at the Tokyo QM Depot Officers Club.

22 February  To recognize President George Washington’s Birthday, the 720th MP Battalion performed a skit, “I Cannot Tell A Lie.” The participants dressed in Colonial era costumes. A young George Washington, played by Conrad Babcock, the son of Colonel and Mrs. C. S. Babcock of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff SCAP, was caught cutting down a cherry tree. However, instead of young Washington being caught by his father, he was instead caught in the act by PFC Adrian Hoogerheid, Jr., of Able Company uniformed as a member of the Colonial 720th MP Battalion.

     PFC Hoogerheid promptly issued the young man a Disciplinary Report.

     North Korean leader Kim Il Sung traveled to Moscow to once again ask Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's permission to invade South Korea. For some time the Soviet’s had been providing the North with arms and munitions to ward off any chance of a reunification invasion from the South. For several years Stalin had refused such requests knowing that the South’s army was numerically and materially stronger, and with U.S. troops stationed there after WWII, the North could not win such an adventure.

     Mao Zedong had also been putting off any approval for an attack because he first wanted to invade Formosa to rid the country of the Nationalist Army and reunify China under the communist banner.

      I was assigned to Charlie Company, and reported to 1LT John P. Duffy, who, after welcoming me to the unit, informed me that I would start my three weeks training course the next day. I was then assigned quarters, issued equipment, and otherwise processed into my new outfit.

   The physical training began with side-straddle hop, push-ups, bends, and all the other exercises that go towards getting you in shape. The part I liked best was the training in unarmed defense. I learned how to search suspects correctly to lessen my own personal danger. Before CPL Teddy D. Coulster, my instructor, was through with me, I had a good idea of how it was done..

     I next went to the mechanical training, starting with the care and use of a patrol jeep and its radio. I learned how to make an arrest, when you can and can’t, and how to do it diplomatically. How to complete a proper Disciplinary Report, and other forms related to my future patrol duties. I was trained on our inventory and the care and use of weapons, to include the M-1 rifle, .45-caliber sub-machine gun, grease gun, and automatic pistol. For orientation training we boarded busses, and traveled throughout Tokyo, where they showed us the regular attractions, and off limits areas.”   PFC John R. Mutter, Charlie Company, 1950.

20 April In San Francisco at a Chamber of Commerce event, W. Stuart Symington (D), the outgoing Secretary of the Air Force (1947-1950), and former Assistance Secretary of War for the Air Force (1946-1947), addressed the gathering and said the U.S. was inadequately prepared to defend itself from a surprise Soviet atomic attack.

     Symington continued with his assessment that the Soviets now had: “A ground army greater in number than the combined armies of the U.S. and its allies; an Air Force whose strength in nearly all categories was now the largest in the world and growing relatively larger month by month, and the world’s largest submarine fleet.”

     In Germany, the Soviets continued their harassment of American and Allied troops by arresting an American MP patrol and seizing cargo barges and trains in an attempt to provoke an international incident, and prevent needed raw materials and other commerce from reaching the Western Zone.

6 May The Battalion Officers Club sponsored their 2nd Annual Military Policeman’s Ball, and over 800 guests were in attendance. Admission was by “summons” with a two-dollar bail assessed on each guest. Battalion officers, LT’s Beryl K. Sanders (S-3), and Ralph E. Dillard (S-2), started serving the summonses to the list of guests back in mid April. The bail covered the expenses of the ball, and netted a total of $500.00 for a donation to a hospital burned down during the disastrous fire in the Atami business district on 3 April. Many of the guests also brought along items of clothing to donate.

    Various unannounced stunts were perpetrated against unsuspecting guests who were mugged, fingerprinted, and placed in a lineup early in the evening. One of the evening’s highlights was a fake radio broadcast staged with an announcer, engineer and soundmen. The guests were interviewed for a radio audience, which they learned later, did not exist.

29 May A new Military Police School was opened at Eta Jima, on Nishi-Noma Island in Hiroshima Bay, Hiroshima Prefecture. Subordinate to the Eta Jima School Command, the school accepted trainees from all MP units within the Far East Command. The first class of 100 MPs was scheduled to receive a four-week block in standard MP duties.

30 May, 0900 hours An Occupation Forces Memorial Day ceremony to honor American troops lost during the war was being conducted at the Japanese Imperial Plaza in Tokyo. At the same time the Japanese Communist Party (JPC) sponsored May Day labor rally, inaugurating what was termed “a people’s democratic defense front” was forming outside the grounds. The last thing the attendees of the solemn ceremony inside the palace grounds expected were to have their ceremony disrupted by mob violence. In fact, to insure the two would not interfere with each other, the Japanese Metropolitan Police, as in past years, had scheduled the area off limits to other crowds until the Memorial Day ceremony was finished.

     At the JCP rally the estimated 5,000 demonstrators, laborers and university students, claimed the were being denied access to the grounds, and took issue with five uniformed American service men that were observing their gathering and taking notes as their speakers addressed the crowd. The five Americans, one officer and four NCO’s, were members of a U.S. Counterintelligence Unit assigned to observe the JPC rally. The crown circled the five, and one demonstrator grabbed the notebook being used by SGT Peter W. Koehn. The crown then began shoving and five soldiers around and throwing rocks, one of which struck their interpreter, SGT Terry K. Yamamoto in the head. The soldiers finally escaped from the crowd with the assistance of battalion MPs, none of them having been seriously hurt.

31 May GEN MacArthur was incensed at the incident, and ordered SCAP to initiate an immediate trial of the suspects in military court. MG Charles A. Willoughby, assistant chief of staff, G-2, stated: “We do not intend to permit any delay in the trial of people who defy or take action against Americans in uniform.”

     An unnamed high official of GEN MacArthur’s staff stated: “We’ve been patient for four years, now, but we are not going to permit these organizations [JCP] which sponsor anti-American brawls to continue to operate.” "This Memorial Day demonstration probably was the incident that will force us to abandon our patient attitude.”

     The suspects were placed on trial within twenty-four hours of their arrest.

Exact Date Unknown Most commanders knew the value of a good reliable scrounger, especially when facing regular IG inspections, or when looking for those special items not on the authorized TO&E that were needed to maintain troop morale. For a soldier with those abilities certain liberties were allowed. In Japan the battalion’s most recognized scrounger was PFC John D. “Wildman” Agostini of Charlie Company, whose peers called him a man of legend.

     John brought some extra style to the battalion when he purchased a 1939 black Cadillac and hired a personal chauffeur. Measured against GEN Douglas MacArthur’s Caddy, John’s car was slightly longer. It was an altogether impressive vehicle. He added an extra touch by equipping his limousine with two pennants. One bore the 720th Battalion crest, the other the single stripe of a Private First Class.

     The chauffeur, who was a Japanese national, unfurled the flags whenever John was aboard, reviewing the passing world from the backseat, and hooded the flags whenever his employer was absent. The officers of the battalion regarded this private demonstration of regal splendor with mixed emotions, but drew the line when the chauffeur, awaiting John’s instructions, started to call the Orderly Room.

     Not satisfied with the recognition that the limo brought him, John expanded his fleet by one with the purchase of a surplus amphibious truck known as a DUKW, and nicknamed by the GI’s as the “Duck.” It was a six-wheel-drive 6.5 ton, 31 foot long, gasoline powered transport used to carry troops and supplies over land and water. John had it registered as a civilian vehicle and parked it next to the battalion commanders spot in the Camp Burness parking lot. It was said that at the sight of this spectacle, LTC Kenworthy was not a happy man. But John was happy about the Duck because he could get sixteen or twenty of his friends aboard for cruises through downtown Tokyo, and an occasional trip.

3 June At 1600 hours the Provost Court hearing the charges against the eight Japanese arrested for assaulting U.S. soldiers during the 31 May Day Rally were found guilty and sentenced to prison for varying terms. The battalion reaction force was present to maintain security both in and outside the Marunouchi Police Station where the proceedings were held.

    The JCP call for a nationwide strike in support of their members arrested on May Day failed to materialize. Japanese authorities took steps to prevent the strikes and demonstrations by meeting with the leadership of the various trade unions and university students. The government also declared Hibiya Park and the Imperial Plaza off-limits to any gatherings or parades, and threatened arrest if the order was violated. Rural police made one arrest for a minor infraction, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Police reported no arrests.

     As a precaution against the planned unrest, the battalion reaction force stood by to assist the Tokyo Police, but was not needed.

5 June Reports from British Intelligence indicated that the Soviet and Chinese Communist Parties had split their “colonial objectives” in Southeast Asia, and embarked on a plan of “practical cooperation” in the area. Among the changes for the Chinese were rubber and tin from Burma and Indonesia, and rice from Siam (Thailand). India and Pakistan were included in China’s “sphere of influence,” to be attained by “peasant resistance.”

     The 358th, the largest out-patient clinic, downtown; Tokyo General, just a few blocks from us; and I think the 361st, several miles away, we were operating with skeleton crews. Our dentist, Sheldon Koltoff, was sent to Korea. I talked with him again in 1960, in Philly. I worked hard in the hospital without much direction, taking care of wards full of wounded. This was mostly in the field of orthopedics and neurosurgery, and I used that training once again in Vietnam about fifteen years later.  CPL (COL Retired) Thomas P. Chisholm, Medical Detachment, 1948-1952.

    The Soviet’s had departed North Korea in 1948, and at the suggestion of the United Nations, in 1949 the U.S. had withdrawn all but a small advisory-training group [approximately 472 trainer & advisors] of its combat troops from the South.

     Not being overly concerned with the mounting threats of the Communist North towards the new South Korean government, and unaware of the Soviet authorization granting the North permission to make preparations for war, the U.S. foreign policy in 1950 was to leave the diplomatic problem to the United Nations commissions to work out.

“We were at Camp Burness, at Z and 20th Street, just over the river bridge. We had lots of good men and officers and, of course, some goofballs, too.

     A little Japanese boy kept my belt and holster and boots shined so good that I could have almost shaved by them.

     We escorted ambulances [motorcycle squad] from the hospital to the airbase, returning men home who had been badly wounded. You really had to look after their safety because the Japanese drivers were kinda erratic."   SGT James P. Robinson, Sr., Charlie Company, 1947-1950.

28 June The United States Army Military Police Corps, reactivated on 26 September 1942 for WWII, became a permanent branch of the United States Army under the Army Organization Act of 1950, PL 581, passed by the 81st Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

     In South Korea, the North Korean Army juggernaut captured the capital city of Seoul driving the U.S. KMAG advisors and South Korean Army towards the southeast coastal city of Pusan.

1 July GEN MacArthur directed the 8th Army to assume logistical responsibility for all U.S. and Republic of South Korea (ROK) troops at Pusan. The responsibility would later fall to the 8th Army Rear Guard as its main headquarters elements deployed to Pusan.

     GEN MacArthur directed the 8th Army to assume logistical responsibility for all U.S. and Republic of South Korea (ROK) troops at Pusan. The responsibility would later fall to the 8th Army Rear Guard as its main headquarters elements deployed to Pusan.

3 July The North Korean Peoples Army (NKPA) captured the western costal city of Incho.

July 14-18 The 1st Cavalry Division departed from the Tokyo area with its organic 545th MP Company to prepare for deployment to South Korea increasing the Battalion area of operations by approximately 240 square miles. It more than doubled the battalion area, which now included the entire Tokyo metropolitan area.

20 July The Department of the Army issued General Order No. 23, to clarify changes in titles, designation of chiefs of services, and basic special branches of the Army for the guidance of all concerned. Under paragraph No. 1, Changes in titles, the designation of Corps of Military Police was changed to Military Police Corps. In paragraph No. 2 Chiefs of services, the title of “Provost Marshal General” was listed for the Military Police Corps.

Exact Dates Unknown Although there is no mention of it in any of the battalion historical summaries of the time, no doubt because it was a highly classified operation, MG Paul M. Timmerberg, a young new 1st Lieutenant with Able Company at the time, related with much detail the movement of millions in gold bullion through Tokyo. One can understand his ability to provide a minutia of details on an event from so long ago, at the time this was an extremely important mission, one that could make or break the career of a young officer, and the responsibility was assigned to him.

     Since the start of the occupation SCAP Headquarters began a policy of war reparations to eleven Pacific Allies for damages done or expenses incurred during the hostilities. These totaled approximately fifty-four billion dollars (1940’s) or 500 billion by 2000 standards. Many of the countries were reimbursed with payments of industrial machinery, precious ore, proceeds from international sales of equipment, and several shipments of precious metals and industrial grade diamonds. In October 1949 French Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) and Thailand received gold shipments worth $37 million and $44 million respectively.

    1LT Timmerberg mentions no specific date beyond receiving the mission approximate eight months after his arrival in the battalion, which was in January 1950. The five-week mission involved all four companies so one can assume it was carried out before the departure of Charlie Company.

     It began when LTC Kenworthy ordered 1LT Timmerberg to the PMO for what he was told was a special assignment. At the PMO, the operations officer informed him he was to provide security arrangements for the transportation of four motorized shipments of gold bullion worth millions, from the Bank of Japan in Tokyo to a merchant ship docked at a terminal in the harbor of Yokohama. The shipments were scheduled for one day each week, throughout a one-month period. The Japanese police were to provide inconspicuous assistance and support along the route. 1LT Timmerberg had one week to formulate his plan, then select and familiarize his crew before the first shipment began.

     SFC Philip Boiser of Able Company was selected as the NCOIC, and each letter company was to provide twenty-five percent of the personnel, and the same men were to be available for all four shipments.

   A dry run reconnaissance/familiarization was conducted by transporting all assigned personnel via buses to maintain mission secrecy. A myriad of traffic problems and some communications deficiencies were discovered, and had to be overcome.

     The battalion personnel were familiar with the traffic flow and its choke points in Tokyo, but not Yokohama. For that part of the route they would rely on the 519th MP Battalion and their PMO. Both agreed to meet the convoy at the Tokyo-Yokohama line with a radio equipped MP jeep to guide them to the pier and back. Secondary routes were planned for the inevitable choke points in both cities. They also agreed to switch over to the 519th radio net once in Yokohama to insure communications continuity on their progress with the Tokyo PMO. To further insure there were no breaks in their radio links during the convoys, they installed several auxiliary antennas along the route.

     Each convoy consisted of twenty vehicles, the total distance between the bank and the pier was about twenty-five miles, and the estimated time for the run under ideal conditions at twenty-five miles per-hour was two and-a-half hours. It was getting close to transport day so the crews spent their available time assembling and moving the convoy group for short distances, around and adjacent to the battalion area.

     The English-speaking Japanese police officer they were assigned was most helpful in unsnarling the traffic jams, and it was a relief when they finally met the 519th MP Battalion jeep at the Yokohama line. The density of the traffic through the city made for laborious movement, sometimes at only a slow crawl. After three and a half hours they finally arrived at the pier and formed their elements to facilitate unloading the bullion from the truck to the ship. The elements at the pier responsible for unloading were quick and efficient, and 1LT Timmerberg was very relieved when the ships captain finally signed for the cargo. Their return trip took almost as long and was just a difficult. The remaining three shipments were accomplished in due time, and all were as successful as the first.

     MG Timmerberg ended his account by praising the staff for its success. “Our success was due mainly to the intense motivation and superb ability of the men who performed the mission. They were all highly flexible and capable of undertaking almost any task. They responded well to direction and guidance, but were also tremendously effective when given the opportunity to use their initiative and imagination. They were especially astute in using their best judgment to act appropriately in the absence of orders, and to do so in a manner consistent with what their superiors would have expected. In retrospect, this fact was no doubt well known by the staffs of the PMO and the battalion who had placed such a junior officer in command of so heavy a burden.”

     Four convoys totaling twenty truckloads of gold bullion, was worthy of much speculation among the convoy staff. Most believed it was proceeds of years of theft by the Japanese Army from the countries of Asia, and it was being returned to its rightful owners. If MG Timmerberg knew, he didn’t say, and no official explanation from either country has yet to be found so it still remains a mystery to this day.

26 August A call went out from the X Corps Headquarters to the 720th MP Battalion to provide a company of MPs, as soon as possible. The day the call came down from X Corps Headquarters LTC Kenworthy was away from the Battalion Headquarters, MAJ Smith, the Executive Officer took the call. He was ordered to immediately provide an MP company ready and equipped within 24 hours. MAJ Smith first thought of asking for volunteers from the letter companies then realized it would take to long. He stated he decided to provide Charlie Company, "not because they were the best, but because they were ready."

    The company was under-manned, so experienced personnel from Able, Baker and Dog Companies were reassigned to bring Charlie Company to their TO&E strength.

     Charlie Company departed the familiar and comfortable surroundings of Camp Burness in Tokyo in the last week of August, and reported to the new quarters of canvas tents at the Repungi area a suburb north of Tokyo.

     Commanded by CPT Sam Denton, 1LT William E. VanBuskirk reassigned from Dog Company as the executive officer, and platoon leaders 1LT’s Charles H. Avent, Frank M. Robbins and David L. Boddington, they set in in an open field and used that as their base of operations, and immediately began their processing, turning in all summer weight clothing and received additional weapons, and field familiarization training.

28 August Headquarters & Service Group was just one of many commands that not only responded to requests to assist the soldiers departing Japan for Korea, but also those already in theater, and those returning to Japan as casualties. There were many comfort items that were not standard issue or were in short supply, or because of the sudden attack they were not available for shipment with the troops. To provide the comfort items for the casualties at the area hospitals, and to be sent to the troops in Korea, the group service clubs chipped in with cash donations.

     “I arrived in Japan in August 1946, and was assigned to Company C of the 720th. At that time the battalion was in Nakano, and part of the 8th Army. My first duty was traffic control on Ginza and Z Avenue near the intersection of the Tokyo Post Exchange. I was also a driver, moving personnel to and from the Ueno Police Station. Then I was transferred to the motor pool sergeant of Headquarters Company, where I drove 2-1/2 ton trucks. I made the rank of T/5 in this job, drove for six months, and then asked to be the battalion Mail Clerk.

     About that time I made buck sergeant, and the battalion moved to downtown Tokyo. About a week later, the Army did away with the buck sergeant rate but kept the sergeant’s pay scale, and we were all corporals once again

3 September Typhoon Jane struck the Japanese Islands, damaging ships and interfering with the loading of amphibious shipping for the assault at Inchon, Korea.

6 September Headquarters of Headquarters and Service Group, General Headquarters Far East Command issued Special Orders No. 213, authorizing the transfer of six battalion officers, and 211 enlisted men to form the X Corps Military Police Company (Provisional) for deployment to Korea. The orders were verbal and were classified secrete, so Charlie Company’s new assignment was not immediately made known to the troops at that time.

8 September In the evening Charlie Company members received passes for the week, with most returning to Tokyo to spend their time.

9 September Shortly after 0001 hours, a squad of seven U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents lead by CPT John M. Rice, conducted a swift covert raid in the suburban Setagaya Ku area of Tokyo looking to arrest a North Korean spy. The squad was successful, and found their suspect Yoshimatsu Iwamura, a North Korea Peoples Army (NKPA) Major, asleep in his room. During the search of the room the CIC agents discovered and seized incriminating documents ranging from U.S. Army training manuals, U.S. military installation maps, troop and weapons strengths, to the full set of “top Secret” plans for the pending U.S. amphibious landing at Inchon harbor in South Korea. The plans were still not yet accessible to many in the SCAP chain of command.

     MAJ Iwamura was identified by the CIC as under the control and supervision of COL Seki, the NKPA Intelligence Chief. The major was the recruiter and ringleader for a group of spy’s from the sympathetic Korean Communist community throughout Japan.

     MAJ Iwamura’s arrest was kept under wraps for months until the Inchon landing was completed, and the remainder of his espionage cell could be identified and taken into custody. At the close of the operation in 1951, cell members of both Korean and Japanese decent, numbered forty-five

     The MPs of the battalion were assigned as the transport and courtroom security for the defendants who appeared before an Allied International Provost Court in Tokyo.

10 September, 1320 hours The battalion Charge of Quarters (CQ), received a telephone call from X Corps Headquarters ordering the company to be ready for movement by 1800 hours that evening. The CQ immediately informed 1LT William E. Van Buskirk, who was at battalion when the call came in. 1LT Van Buskirk now had the daunting task of trying to round up the 190 troops of the company that were scattered about the Tokyo area on leave.

     The lieutenant immediately departed for Repungi and the company area. On his way back he stopped at the Tokyo Provost Marshal Office and had the Officer of The Day, issue an order to all MP patrols to start looking for the men of the company.

     1LT Van Buskirk returned to the company area and ordered the cooks to prepare cold cut sandwiches and have plenty of hot coffee available for the troops upon their return. Throughout the afternoon and evening the MP's started arriving at the company area in Repungi by way of taxis, patrol jeeps, and some by rickshaw, and by 1730 hours with many still suffering from the effects of the day’s revelry, the company was assembled and ready to move out as ordered.

1 November    Just as it appeared that the North Korean Army had been totally eliminated as an effective fighting force and the war was coming to an end, eighteen divisions of Communist Chinese troops attacked across the Yalu River from the north, northwest, and west against scattered U.S. and South Korean Army units.

8 November Headquarters and Service Command announced that their 1950 Army Emergency Relief Fund drive sent a new record of contributions at $11,579.79. Listed among the list of top contributing units was the battalion with a total of $237.35.

10 November CPT Harold L. Funk, commander of Dog Company, was promoted to the rank of Major. From Altoona, Pennsylvania, Funk served in the India-Burma-China Theater during World War II. He arrived for duty with the battalion in 1949.

11 November With the threat of rabies to occupation troops and civilians on the rise in the U.S. dependent housing areas of Tokyo, the battalion formed a dog catching unit, and their success became quickly evident. Their patrols were credited with cutting the population of abandoned dogs and other ill-tempered, and unattended animals in half. At the start of their operation on a normal patrol day the unit averaged 20 animals, and in no time they managed to “thin the herd” to half.

     CPL Lester G. Beuthien of Able Company, PFC Arthur Henderson unit unknown, PFC David L. Leonard of Dog Company, and several Japanese civilian assistants staffed the “Dog Catcher” unit.

25 December On Christmas day at the local Aiki no le Orphanage, the battalion, with the assistance of Special Services hostesses Misses Margo Quinn and Vivian McManus, hosted a group of ninety-two children to a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, a program of entertainment given by the children, and a visit by Santa Claus in the person of SGT John Lemaster from Able Company. Each child also received a personal gift. In addition, the MPs also treated 301 children of battalion employees to a similar affair.

     The battalion troops received the second (known) Souvenir Album or Year Book. It cited the Battalion Moto as “ Courtesy, Service and Security."

    Battalion command staff at the time of publishing were:

Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment: LTC Aubrey S. Kenworthy, commander; MAJ W. C. Smith, executive officer; MAJ A. J. Carey, adjutant; CPT D. F. Cothran, assistant adjutant; MAJ H. I. Funk, S-3; LT R. E. Dillard, S-2; MAJ C. N. Leinen, S-4; CPT J. E. Carr, Medical officer; MAJ J. E. Jordan, Dental officer; CPT H. L. Peterson, Motor officer; CPT C. W. Hope, assistant Motor officer; CPT W. E. Doyle, Repairs & Utilities officer; CPT R. P. Honig, assistant Repair & Utilities officer; WOJG D. C. Alford, Personnel officer.

Headquarters Company: CPT Frederick G. Peacock, commander; First Sergeant, MSG Robert L. Glasscock, Jr.

Able Company: CPT William C. Ghan, commander; Platoon Leaders, 1LT Francis L. Roche, Jr., 2LT Curtis B. Exeli; First Sergeant, MSG Carl M. Shore.

Baker Company: CPT Wilson E. Doyle, commander; Platoon Leaders, CPT William J. Morrisroe, 1LT Joseph P. Serogham, 1LT Francis L. Roche, Jr.; First Sergeant, MSG Edward Aune.

Charlie Company (prior to redesignation): CPT Ted Capps, commander; Platoon Leaders, 1LT William J. Rousseau, 1LT Ray C. Clark; First Sergeant, MSG Pearl Sargent.

Dog Company: CPT Audwert L. Munday, commander; Platoon Leaders, 1LT Beryl K. Sanders, 1LT Frank J. Pons, Jr., 1LT Edward James; First Sergeant, MSG Harold G. Koetje.