~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association  History Project ~
The Oxford Deployments... Then and Now
Oxford, Mississippi 1962-1963
        I arrived at Fort Hood, Texas on or about 1 December 1961 and was assigned to 1st Platoon, A Company, 720th MP Battalion.

        In the summer of 1962 we convoyed to Charleston, SC where we were involved in War Games [Exercise Swift Strike-II] between the 101st Airborne and 82nd Airborne Divisions. A squad of us were assigned to a local air force base.
 
720th
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September 30, 1962 we convoyed from Fort Hood, Texas to Waco, Texas where we boarded a cargo plane and flew to Millington Naval Air Station a few miles from Memphis, Tennessee. We arrived sometime after midnight on 1 October. We held a formation and were issued live rounds and tear gas grenades. A squad of us boarded a helicopter and flew to Oxford, Mississippi.

        When we reached Qxford a highway patrolman pulled his patrol car under the helicopter to keep us from landing. The pilot moved the helicopter up and down the street three times but each time he attempted to land it the patrol car pulled underneath it preventing a landing. The pilot finally had enough and started to descend down on top of the patrol car and the highway patrolman drove away.

        After we disembarked from the helicopter we formed and moved up the street and set up a road block to stop and search all vehicles for weapons.

        We were in that position for three days, ate C Rations, and slept in the yards of the nearby homes. During those first three days performing the road block duties we did have black MPs with us including a black 1st Lieutenant. Whenever we stopped a car with older residents in it (70-80’s) the occupants would scream at us "Get those damn niggers out of my car!" The black soldiers in our unit were sent back to Fort Hood and I can not recall seeing another one in uniform for the duration of the deployment. [Editor: According to Pentagon records and many eyewitnesses, Attorney General Robert Kennedy secretly ordered 4,000 black soldiers to be removed from the deployment and forcibly segregated during the unrest at Oxford. It's alleged it was done to avoid the political embarrassment of having black troops with high-powered rifles in command of Mississippi streets. This segregation was allegedly condoned by President John F. Kennedy.]
 

        We were then moved to the campus [University of Mississippi] at the Rebel Football Field where our Headquarters was located [“Camp Paradise”]. From there we were again moved to a large open field a few miles outside of town where we set up our pup tents. Then my platoon was moved to a ravine near Baxter Hall in squad tents. We called it "The Hole."

        We were assigned to town patrol in teams of three, using our 1961 Ford patrol cars. Other times were were assigned to special duty where we were responsible for guarding Baxter Hall where James Meredith was staying. We also had a special patrol called the "Peanut Patrol." that accompanied him to and from his classes.

        By the second or third week of deployment we were advised that we could sign up for passes to Memphis, Tennessee. The command couldn’t understand why no one was signing up. It was then brought to their attention that since our deployment no one had been paid because were we always on the move. I understand that the Battalion Commander went to a local bank and borrowed money, and put the word out that anyone signing up for the passes would be loaned $10.00 for pocket money. With that everyone wanted to sign up, back then $10.00 went a long way.
 

        I recall watching one game of the 1962 World Series, Yankees vs Giants on a black & white television. It was set up out in the big field, there must have been 500 soldiers there. I also recall that when walking around you didn’t have to go very far before stumbling over a card game in progress.

        Sometime between 15-20 October, I’m not sure of the exact date, we returned to Fort Hood, Texas. It wasn’t long after our return were were again placed on alert. This time it was for the "Cuban Missile Crisis." [October 15-29] The 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions were deployed from Fort Hood to Georgia.

        We rotated additional deployments to Oxford, Mississippi with other Military Police units. [503rd MP Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and 716th MP Battalion, Fort Dix, New Jersey]

        I spent Christmas of 1962 and New Years of 1963 back in Oxford. During that deployment the area received 3 to 4 inches of snow and it was very cold. By this time we were living in the large tents that had oil stoves in them for heat.

        While there I was promoted from Private First Class to Specialist 4th Class. There was also an incident were some of the fellows obtained some local “White Lightning,” and tried to run over one of the big tents, that I was in.
 

        It was May or June of 1963 when we were again deployed for the third time to Oxford, Mississippi. We returned to Fort Hood from the deployment during the end of June.

        The Battalion was being reorganizing due to the buildup in Vietnam. Those members with plenty of time left in their tours were sent to C Company. I was due for discharge in july and remained in A Company, and other members who were just months from discharge were also assigned to A Company.

        In September of 2002 I went to Oxford, Mississippi hoping to learn more about our deployment and meet someone that remembered it. I went to the city hall and met the mayor. In our conversation he said that the only military units that were in Oxford in 1962 were the local National Guard. I told him he was wrong and informed him of the 720th and other Military Police units that were deployed there during the Meredith civil unrest, and that we deployed a total of three times between 1962 and 1963. Again he denied it and asked me to leave the building even though it was open to the public for another 30 minutes. As the mayor went to the phone I noticed that there were several black people in the area and stated, "See the way he acts, 40 years ago he would have stood in the door to block Meredith from entering." When I arrived at my car outside I was met by a city policeman.

        If I am still around in 2012 I plan to return to Oxford, Mississippi for the 50th anniversary of the incident.

SP/4 Ralph C. Lewis, A Company, 720th MP Battalion, 4th Army. Fort Hood, Texas, 1961-1963.
WANTED: Information, photographs, official documents, and personal stories relating to the Oxford deployments, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of the page.
 
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