Exact Date Unknown - HQ Detachment - Reflection  “My first assignment with the 720th was as a jeep machine gunner on convoy escort. I was assigned to HHD as a driver for the Battalion XO, but before I could begin that job, I was supposed to learn the countryside by going out with Charlie Company. I reported for duty early that morning. I found my jeep in the staging area, and went over to the armorer and asked him for my M60. He swung the M60, with pedestal mount attached, up on to the counter. I took the machine gun over to my vehicle and stabbed it down into the pedestal then returned for some ammunition. I told the armorer he'd better give me a couple of cans, thinking he might only be planning on giving me one. He began to put ammo cans on the counter and told me to “load'em 'till he stopped.” When it was all over you could not see the floor of the M151 for the ammo cans I had loaded. I opened one of the cans and placed it in its' mount and that's where I ran in to trouble. I guess I have failed to mention that I had never even touched an M60 before much less loaded one and at this point I could not figure out how to get that belt fed in to the gun (my MOS was "light vehicle driver" and we trained with M14s).

     As departure time got closer, the driver and his shotgun passenger arrived. The driver was an E5 and his passenger was an E6. Their uniforms were almost white compared to my brand new green never worn before issue. They got in the jeep and never even acknowledged my presence. Eventually the vehicles began to roll, and I realized that the only way I was going to get my weapon loaded was to ask the Sergeant. Just as the driver started our jeep, I tapped the E6 on the shoulder and asked him if he knew how to "load this thing". His reaction was one I will never forget. He went in to a rage about me getting him killed and told me to listen up and listen up good as he opened the machine gun and loaded the ammo belt. He went in to great detail describing every nuance there was to know about the M60. When we were off the post, we had target practice. As I recall we did quite a bit of damage to some non-military targets.

     I was told we went to Cambodia that day. You couldn't prove it by what I saw. The border wasn't marked and it all looked the same to me. We made it to our destination without incident, but on the way back we had a flat tire. You'll never guess who changed it. Once the flat was off the jeep, the E5 rolled it toward the back of the vehicle only it didn't stop there and instead rolled right off the road and in to a nearby flooded rice paddy. I continued to mount the spare and watched to see who was going to retrieve the errant tire. Once I was finished mounting the tire, it was obvious that the E5 was not going to rectify his mistake by wading out in to the field as he was already seated in the jeep along with the senior NCO. I didn't say a word and waded out in to that most foul smelling, deeper than expected water. We returned to Long Binh without another word spoken.

     I was put in my place that day. I was a FNG and proved it by my incredible lack of experience at making war. The harassment of basic training was nothing compared to what those two dished out that day.” SGT Robert O. Plumlee, HQ & HQ Detachment, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, September 1969-November 1970.

North Vietnam  President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Communist North Vietnam) Ho Chi Minh died of a heart attack at age 79. Aspiring to bask in the reflected glory of his posthumous triumph, they violated his final wishes when his heirs put his embalmed body on display in a hideous granite mausoleum copied from Lenin's tomb in Moscow. In his will he specified that his ashes be buried in urns on three hilltops in Vietnam, saying, "Not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene, but it also saves farmland.

     Ho Chi Minh was succeeded by Le Duan the First Secretary of the Communist Party.

1055 hours The Quan Loi Convoy escorted by elements of C Company was ambushed by an enemy force of 150-200 North Vietnamese Regulars of the K-9 Battalion at the same location of the ambush on 14 August.

     The attack began with a mortar barrage followed by a ground attack from the west side of the roadway. A mechanized reaction force of the 1st Infantry Division along with tactical air and artillery support were able to trap the enemy force inflicting heavy loss of life. U.S. casualties consisted of 1 dead, and seven wounded, with two U.S. trucks (lowboys) damaged and disabled. Enemy losses were 55 dead, four captured, three surrendered, and a large cache of weapons, ammunition, and supplies were recovered.

     CPT Dennis Fogarty is assigned as the Deputy Provost Marshal of III Corps Tactical Zone.

     MAJ William F. Weaver relinquishes the position as the Battalion Executive Officer to MAJ Nicholas N. Chronis.

2019 hours  A north bound Operation OVERTAKE escort reported that the convoy received 2 rounds of Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) fire, approximate 50 rounds automatic weapons fire from the east side of Highway 1A at Grid Coordinates (map location) XS926956.

     The OVERTAKE units returned approximately 100 rounds of fire with their organic weapons causing unknown results. One APC received 3 small arms rounds. There were no injuries or damage and the convoy with all vehicles proceeded north. The ARVN unit who had responsibility for the area was notified, but what action, if any had been taken, was unknown .

     CPT Paul S. Fiasconaro received command of HQ Detachment from 1LT L. O. Farris.

     MAJ Aron J. Cunningham assumed the position of Battalion Chaplain from CPT Lloyd D. Powers .

     1LT Jeffery A. Gilbert of HQ Detachment S3 Operations is assigned to B Company as a Platoon Leader.