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Return To 1970 Index

Last Updated 1 December 2014

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At the start of the month Battalion HQ Detachment, its organic letter companies (minus Bravo Company) and the 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog) were headquartered subordinate to the 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, III Corps Tactical Zone, Bien Hoa Province, Long Binh Post, South Vietnam. Bravo Company was headquartered at Vinh Long, in Vinh Long Province, and the 22nd Provost Marshal Detachment at Can Tho in Phong Dinh Province, both in IV Corps Tactical Zone, Mekong Delta Region.

18th MP Brigade

89th MP Group

720th MP Battalion

Exact Date Unknown - Xuan Loc The detachment NCOIC SFC Chester A. “The Judge” Baker’s tour ended with C Company, and he was replaced by SSG William Statts.

212th MP Company  2LT Charles R. Wells, Jr. is assigned as platoon leader for the 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog).

     CW3 Samuel D. Kidd is assigned as Battalion personnel officer replacing CW3 Wayne L. Breazeale.

Stateside  Operation RAW (Rapid American Withdrawal) Some 75 Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) members began a three-day hike from Moorestown, NJ to Valley Forge, PA.

     Along the way they simulated war atrocities against civilians, and handed out flyers (right) to townspeople stating that they might have been raped, murdered or tortured by the U.S. Infantry had they been Vietnamese "Gooks".

     They also claimed that, "American soldiers do these things every day."

     One VVAW member summed up his feelings about the march: "The spirit that we would never again fight for Amerikkka-that Amerikkka was the enemy that had to be stopped, that we were fighting as part of a different world-this became real on the march for me and became a guide for many vets later on."

     The usage of the letters ‘kkk’ to spell Amerikkka was used as a politically satiric misspelling. A reference to the Ku Klux Klan done to indicate their belief that the United States and the American society was fundamentally racist.

7 September

Stateside  On the last day of the VVAW protest (Operation RAW) Jane Fonda stated in her speech,*”My Lai was not an isolated incident but rather a way of life for many of our military.” *It was at My Lai on 16 March 1968, that soldiers of an infantry company from the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), massacred several hundred Vietnamese civilians in the village, and the incident was initially covered up.

     CPT Gary R. Gracon is assigned as the new Battalion operations (S3) officer replacing CPT Danny J. Griswould.

     1LT Kenneth E. Pillsbury is assigned as Battalion assistant operations (S3) officer.

     1LT Mark J. Durst is assigned as a platoon leader for A Company.

22nd PMO Detachment  1LT James D. Folsom is assigned as the new operations officer for the 22nd Provost Marshal Detachment replacing CPT Edward Robinson.

212th MP Company  CPT Peter J. Shay departed as commanding officer of the 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog).

Can Tho Detachment  CPT Robert C. Farmer is assigned to the 22nd Provost Marshal Detachment as the new Deputy Provost Marshal, Can Tho.

2LT Felt

Hong Kong  The Battalion was alerted to provide 30 MP’s including one officer for an escort guard force to assist in escorting a large number of U.S. military personnel who had been in a disturbance while on R&R in Hong Kong.

    It is alleged the incident occurred when approximately a dozen U.S. troops were in a jet preparing to return to Vietnam from R&R. They were intoxicated and high on drugs and caused a disturbance. When the aircraft captain tried to calm them down they assaulted him and a stewardess. The captain refused to move the aircraft and the Hong Kong Constabulary were summoned and took the U.S. troops into custody. At the police station jail they again caused a disturbance and damage and were arrested. Members of the 8th Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Group were sent to Hong Kong to investigate the incident and the group of Battalion MP’s were summoned to return the U.S. troops in a special flight to Vietnam for military disciplinary action. The disturbance eventually resulted in Hong Kong being removed as an R&R site for U.S. Personnel.

     Planning for the escort was conducted by the 18th MP Brigade or 89th MP Group Headquarters staff, and MAJ Jerald C. Burns the Battalion adjutant was assigned as the officer in charge. The detail was dispatched by aircraft and returned with all personnel in custody without any major incidents.

Wanted: Anyone regardless of unit, who can provide any further details on the incident in Hong Kong or the escort, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link.