~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
Ambush At Gasoline Alley #1
12 May 1967
This Page Last Updated  16 January 2012
    In the early morning hours of Friday, 12 May 1967, six members of the 615th MP Company night highway security patrol were sitting in front of the Long Binh Provost Marshals Office watching the guns ships firing on the Viet Cong forces that had just attacked the Bien Hoa Air Base. Unknown to them at that time, it was an ominous prelude as to what they would face hours later.
 
    The night highway Road Runner security patrol consisted of two MP gun jeeps, one armored and one open. The armored jeep was equipped with a pole mounted M60 machine gun, the open jeep also had an M60 but instead of being mounted it was lap carried by the rear gunner. When on the highway the armored jeep would run point and the open jeep followed a short distance behind to render support. Their mission was simple but dangerous, they were to patrol the highway in the darkness to draw enemy fire and call in air gunship support to suppress the ambush sights. Unknown to them on this night, the air support that was so critical to their mission was already committed to the defense of the Bien Hoa Air Base that had been under enemy assault, and they had priority status.
18th MP
Brigade
89th MP
Group
720th MP
Battalion
   The two MP gun jeeps left the secure surroundings of Long Binh Post and headed out into the darkness of Highway 1A. The lead armored gun jeep was manned by PFC William M. Halt (driver), PFC William L. "Billy" Sanders (gunner) and PFC Harold A. Newcomb, Jr. (front passenger). The second jeep, which was not armor protected was manned by CPL William D. Pratt Jr. (front passenger), SP/4 L.D. Humbarger (driver), and SP/4 Heinrick (gunner).
 
Photograph Needed
PFC Halt
PFC Sanders
PFC Newcomb
CPL Pratt
 
Photograph Needed
Photograph Needed
SP/4 Humbarger
SP/4 Heinrick
CPL Walker
PFC Jones
 

   As the patrol reached an area nicknamed "Gasoline Alley #2" they saw tracers drift across the road in front of them, they slowed to draw fire but the hidden enemy held off and the patrols proceed on to their destination, the Quan Canh, (QC) Vietnamese Military Police station in the town of Tu Duc. They were to pick up the QC that was assigned to ride with them that night. When they arrived at Tu Duc they were told the QC was on leave and there was no assigned replacement.

   The two jeeps headed for To Do Bridge, swung around and headed back north up Highway 1A on patrol. Nearing an area known as "Gasoline Alley #1" they pulled up and stopped out in front instead of going into the jungle like they usually did, it was a good decision on the part patrol supervisor, CPL Pratt.
Gasoline Alley #1
        CLICK ON TO ENLARGE
 
   The patrol wasn’t there long when at approximately 0330 hours (3:30AM), all hell broke loose. The two jeeps were side by side about 5 meters apart.
   The hidden VC opened their ambush with the first of three hand grenades that burst in the air above the jeeps showering the crews with fragments, immediately followed by a wall of machine gun and small arms fire. The patrols immediately returned fire with their M60 machine guns and rifles.
 
   Three members of the patrol, Newcomb and Halt in the armored jeep, and Humbarger in the rear jeep were immediately wounded. The armored jeep lost a tire and the radio was disabled. PFC Sanders quickly assessed the situation and noted that while he was protected by the armor plating of his vehicle, the other men were exposed to the withering machinegun fire. He quickly shouted to his comrades to take cover and then stood up beyond the protective armor plating of the vehicle. Sanders then turned his weapon and began firing at the enemy in the tree line at the side of the road. Sanders continued firing until he was mortally wounded. That action allowed the other five men to move the jeeps out of the ambush kill zone to a place of safety out on the highway.
 
   Pratt was trying to reach the armored jeep on the radio but received no response because its radio had been rendered useless by the grenade bursts so he stopped and ran back to it. Newcomb watched in amazement as the VC machine gun fire followed in Pratt's tracks. While Pratt was back at the armored jeep assessing the crews condition Heinrick pulled Humbarger, who had been shot in the wrist and leg, from the drivers seat of the open jeep and put him in the back.
 
   Another 615th patrol jeep driven by CPL Cliff Walker and his patrol partner PFC Steven C. Jones arrived. Walker and Jones were on patrol in Bien Hoa when they heard of the ambush and need for assistance. He headed his rag top jeep south at top speed and didn't slow until he located the patrols on the highway. CPL Walker took Halt, who had taken shrapnel in the hand, in his jeep and left his patrol partner to drive the armored jeep containing the body of Sanders and the wounded Newcomb, to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital on Long Binh Post.
 

   PFC Sanders was pronounced dead upon arrival. Halt and Newcomb were admitted and would return to work days later. Humbarger was transported to a hospital in Japan and would return to duty three weeks later.
 

   The members of the patrol credited the quick action by PFC Sanders for saving their lives by allowing them time to exit the ambush kill zone.

   For his gallantry and bravery in action, PFC William Leroy Sanders, age 19, of Denver, Colorado, received the Silver Star and Purple Heart Medals posthumously.

   Purple Heart Medals were also awarded to SP/4 Humbarger, and PFC’s Newcomb and Halt. CPL Pratt was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor.
 

Reflections I was the MP  who was riding partner with CPL Cliff Walker on the Bien Hoa Town Patrol on the night of this ambush. We heard the ambush help radio call from Gasoline Alley and drove quite a distance to the scene where the gun jeeps had fallen back and parked. As I vividly remember, I was surprised we made it to the scene because Walker was driving really fast. I was concerned we would turn over the jeep when we did the corners getting out to Highway 1-Alpha from downtown Bien Hoa.

When we arrived in the dirt parking lot at Gasoline Alley, the highway patrol unit members were in shock, badly shot up and several were injured. I remember we were not at the scene very long when Corporal Pratt decided we would all make a run to the evacuation hospital at Long Binh.
 
While CPL Cliff Walker drove the open top jeep, I drove the armored gun jeep with PFC Bill Sanders, who was deceased and  in the rear gunners compartment.  PFC Harold Newcomb, who was also wounded and in severe shock was in the right-front seat of the jeep.

As we sped north up Highway 1-Alpha towards Long Binh Post I discovered that one of the jeeps front tires had been shot flat. I kept going until we reached the gate nearest the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, Long Binh. When we turned off of Hwy 1-Alpha into the post gate, I almost lost control of the jeep. We were running on the metal wheel rim and the sparks were flying everywhere.

When we arrived at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, we started immediate triage and transferred the wounded inside. Almost simultaneously, a medic or doctor came out, climbed in the rear of the gun jeep and pronounced Bill Sanders dead. We lifted him from the gunner's area, placed him on a gurney and covered him.
 
Bill Sanders, Harold Newcomb and CPL Pratt were in my platoon, First Platoon, 615 MP Company. While this incident occurred in May, every Christmas since that year (1967) I think about that night and Bill Sanders.

I have talked via email with PFC Harold Newcomb about this incident.

I left Viet Nam right after the First Tet Offensive, 1968. I was reassigned to the 287th Military Police Company, West Berlin, Germany. I left the army in 1969 as a Sergeant E-5.
 
After the my service years, I graduated from college and served with the Los Angeles Police Department for seven years. In 2004 I retired from a Northern California sheriffs' department and am enjoying retirement.

PFC Steven C. "Apple-Knocker" Jones, 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, February 1967 to March 1968.
 
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