Just To Make Us Feel At Home
31 January 1968 ~ Start of the Tet New Years Offensive

     SP4 James Williams, (Company C Clerk) and I were both at Camp Alpha, Tan Son Nhut Air Base going on R&R January 31, 1968 to Tokyo, Japan that morning.  We didn't leave for R&R until three days later.  It was a very uncomfortable three days to be sure as there were no sand bags around the "Hammered Out Beer Can" Pascoe buildings we were in when the New Year festivities began that early AM.

     There were no weapons to be had and no bunkers to go to; so all we had were our 3" mattresses and a concrete floor for protection from the many 122mm rockets, mortar rounds and small arms fire.  Charles and Company [Viet Cong] was actually trying to move in it would appear.  Thank God for some very brave SPs [Air Force Security Police], an armored company and the air cavalry or they may have made the move.
 
      The large 051 Bunker on the Tan Son Nhut perimeter was over run and at least two SP were killed allowing sappers access to the runway area where they blew up some bunkered aircraft.  The bunker/gate had to be retaken by force later that morning. 
 
      Just to make us feel at home the VC sent in a 122mm rocket every hour for the next two days; they didn't want us to fall asleep & miss our plane either.

SP/4 Fred D. Clark, C Company, April-June 1967, June 1967-March 1968, HQ Detachment, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Long Binh Post, Vietnam.