When I arrived at A Company on Friday morning, March 19th I discovered that the 720th had orders to go to Selma, Alabama to provide protection for a Voting Rights March that would start in Selma and end in Montgomery at the State Capital. It was to be held on Sunday, March 21. This followed the historic Bloody Sunday on March 7. (When I visited the Voting Rights Museum in Selma in 2005 they had never heard of the presence of the 720th. Those of us who were present need to set history straight and give credit to an outstanding Military Police unit. )
We spent the day preparing our equipment and ourselves to be flown to Craig Air Force Base outside of Selma. That evening we headed out to the Air Force base nearby (I do not remember the name of the base – we had Happy Hour there most Fridays.) By a fluke I ended up on the first plane to leave (that had some problems and wanted to get underway immediately).
Being the first to arrive at Craig I (A brand new 2nd LT – just out of Officer Basic in early November of 1964) got a nice reception. The rest of the 720th came in later that night. Moving all three line companies, HQ and support units was, in my mind, an amazing feat and a testimony to the quality of the troops and their leaders. We were on the ground in Alabama in just over 12 hours from notification.
Most of Saturday (20th) was spent getting the equipment unpacked and scouting the area. On Sunday (21st) we had MP’s stationed along the route of the march. The men had their M-14’s but were not given ammunition, a concern for some of us. One of my A Company jeeps led the march,
We provided close in security on Monday (22nd) and Tuesday (23rd) evening for the marcher’s camp area. Members of the Alabama National Guard provided the outer security for the camp. I do know that members of B Company handled security at least one night.
On Wednesday (24th) we handed the marchers off to a MP unit that had flown into Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. The unit came out of Fort Bragg but I do not remember the unit name. (Would love to know that information)
On Sunday the 21st we convoyed to Montgomery and were on standby for the rally. Approximately 25,000 attended but it was a peaceful event with no problems.
Some members of Headquarters Company flew back to Gray Army Air Base on Saturday. (I have a clipping with a photo of a HQ jeep being unloaded.) The Base Commander and the 1st Armored Band met then with a big welcome. The 720th received lots of praise from the Secretary of Defense to the Craig Base Commanding Officer. Secretary of Defense MacNamara had praised the units at Selma “for the magnificent manner in which they preformed their duties.”
The rest of the 720th came back to Hood the old fashioned way. Three companies with all their vehicles had an approximately 800 mile trip. We still had (if my memory is right) the old M-38 jeeps so the maintenance guys had their hands full. I remember one night spent in a semi-closed army base but I do not know if that was the only over night. It was a long trip.
2LT William E. Thomas, C Company, 720th MP Battalion, 4th Army, Fort Hood, Texas, November 1964 to April 1965.