6,100 American soldiers departed Vietnam, a daily record.

Wanted: If anyone can provide information on who tried to adopt or what happened to Lom, please use the Email Link at the top of this page.

     During a crackdown on individual and organized black marketing activities the Battalion was required to position one MP at the entrance and exit to the post exchange facilities at Vung Tau, Phu Loi, Bear Cat, Xuan Loc, Tay Ninh in Military Region III, and Can Tho, My Tho, and Vinh Long in Military Region IV to insure that only authorized personnel used the exchange and that customers did not abuse their rations privileges

     Each MP was equipped with a current AWOL and Deserter Roster, lost and stolen MACV and ID Card Roster and Dishonored Check Roster. Personnel desiring entrance to Post Exchange facilities were required to exhibit their ID card, MACV Form 5 card and rations card. Mutilated or expired rations cards were confiscated and a receipt issued to the bearer. Personnel that were found to be in possession of improper ration cards were cited and a MP report was forwarded. The purchasing of any unusual quantities of items was monitored.

     CPT Gary M. Woods received command of C Company from 1LT Randall E. S. Dechant (provisional commander).

Wanted: Photographs of CPT Woods, 1LT Dechant and the change of command ceremony, please use the Email Link at the top of this page.

0011 hours, Contraband Search: Brigade Information #188-71, 18th Brigade Information Unit.

0600 hours, the Battalion Motor Pool Guard Detail, PFC Trotter of HQ & HQ Detachment was briefed and posted.

Tay Ninh Convoy  0724 hours, the Tay Ninh Convoy departed Long Binh Post staging area with a total of 16 vehicles.

Bao Loc Convoy  0735 hours, the Bao Loc Convoy departed Long Binh Post staging area with a total of 27 vehicles.

Fire Support Base Mace Convoy  0800 hours, the Fire Support Base Mace Convoy departed The staging area at Long Binh Post with a total of 12 vehicles.

Fire Support Base Mace Convoy  1440 hours, the Fire Support Base Mace Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with all 12 vehicles, without incident.

Tay Ninh Convoy  1535 hours, the Tay Ninh Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with all 16 vehicles without incident.

1730 hours, the new SDNCO (Staff Duty Noncommissioned Officer) reported for duty.

1800 hours, the Battalion Motor Pool Guard Detail of SP/4 Ursher, C Company and PFC Wilson, A Company were briefed and posted by the SDNCO.

1850 hours, SIR (Serious Incident Report) #7-198 Armed Robbery.

2115 hours, SIR #7-204, Possession of Marijuana and Dangerous Drugs.

2120 hours, SIR #6-522 (Supplemental) Suspected Murder.

2125 hours, SIR #7-170 (Supplemental) Aggravated Assault.

2215 hours, SDNCO SSG Richard Boynton and SDO 2LT Charles R. Wells of the 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog) supervised the closing of Annex 11 (Enlisted Men’s Club) with negative incidents.

2350 hours, Motor Pool Guards SP/4 James L. Haley of A Company, and SP/4 William C. Soldwish of C Company were briefed and posted by the SDNCO.

2400 hours, Long Binh Post has remained on “White Alert” status for the past 24 hours.

     The convoy finally reached Long Binh Post that afternoon, minus four vehicles. SP/4 John Henry Morris, Jr., was buried by his young wife in a plot overlooking the Mississippi River at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. His name is etched on The Wall at the Vietnam Memorial, Panel 03W - Row 104. There is no listing of this death or the crash in the Battalion S-3 Daily Log for this date.

Wanted: Photograph of SP/4 San Nicholas, the APC "Black Hawk" and name of the third crewman, please use the Email Link at the top of this page.

0030 hours, Contraband Search: Brigade Information Bulletin #189-71, 18th Brigade Information Unit.

0600 hours, PFC Trotter of HQ & HQ Detachment was posted as Motor Pool Guard.

FSB Mace Convoy  0800 hours, The Fire Support Base Mace Convoy departed the Long Binh Post staging area with a total of 18 vehicles.

Bao Loc Convoy  0830 hours, The Bao Loc Convoy reported a fatal T/A (Traffic Accident), SIR (Serious Incident Report) #7-215.

Xuan Loc Special Convoy  A special escort departed Long Binh Post to Xuan Loc.

Vung Tau Convoy  0837 hours, The Vung Tau Convoy departed the Long Binh Post staging area with a total of 15 vehicles.

Xuan Loc Special Convoy  1130 hours, The Xuan Loc special escort returned to Long Binh Post without incident.

FSB Mace Convoy  1400 hours, The Fire Support Base Mace Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with 18 vehicles and without incident.

Vung Tau Convoy  1445 hours, The Vung Tau Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with all 15 vehicles and without incident.

Bao Loc Convoy  1500 hours, The Bao Loc Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with 58 vehicles. One incident reported, Fatal Traffic Accident at 0830 hours this date.

1730 hours, SP/5 James W. Hall of C Company reported as SDNCO.

Song Be Convoy  1810 hours, The Song Be Convoy returned to Long Binh Post with 58 vehicles and without incident.

2145 hours, SIR (Serious Incident Report), #7-227, Larceny of Government property.

2200 hours, SIR #7-231, Rape (alleged).

2215 hours, The SDO and SDNCO SP/5 James W. Hall of C Company closed Annex 11 (Enlisted Men’s Club) without incident.

2400 hours: PFC Joseph L. Madden of A Company and SP/4 Ronald Hicks of C Company were posted as the Battalion Motor Pool Guards.

Alert Status, Long Binh Post has remained on “White Alert” status for the past 24 hours.

     The Battalion training program was changed to the decentralized system in accordance with General Westmoreland's message. During the period of 21 July to 5 August, spot checks were made of unit training under the new system. It was determined that the individual soldier was far more receptive and responsive to training related to the unit mission with current events added than to mandatory subjects previously required by command directives.

     Guard Mound training was conducted daily at each unit and outlying detachment, and drug abuse training was presented on a weekly basis. Due to wide displacement of battalion personnel, special permission was granted to have character guidance training conducted by the Officer In Charge (OIC), or Noncommissioned Officer In Charge (NCOIC), of outlying detachments.

On The Home Front  A North Vietnamese Government approved political propaganda directive was seized by Allied forces in South Vietnam. The three page document addressed strategies to coordinate their national propaganda effort with their orchestration of the activities of sympathetic counterparts in the American anti-war movement.

     Specifically, the document notes that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris Peace talks were being used as the communications link to directly influence the activities of U.S. anti-war activists meeting with them in Paris.

On The Home Front  Leaders of the Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) held a staff meeting where they agreed to no longer use the terms "Vietcong" or "North Vietnamese" and to instead use the designations Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) [Communist North] and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) [Viet Cong] for their future press releases.

     They also decided to remove all American flags from all VVAW offices, and discuss how best to handle Al Hubbard's (Executive Director of VVAW) planned trip to Hanoi to meet with the representatives of both the DRV and PRG.

Vung Tau Detachment  1LT Edward L. Pledger of A Company assumed the duties of Battalion Provost Marshal at Vung Tau in Military Region III from CPT Gary R. Gracon.

Song Be Convoy  In Song Be a tanker brought to the base by a C Company convoy escort was off loading when it was hit by enemy fire. It ignited along with another tanker, then a 20,000 gallon storage tank. All of it was JP-4 aviation fuel. The escort elements were held over an extra day because of the incident.

Wanted: Additional stories of detachment members present, and the names and ranks of the two MP's wounded during the attack, please use the Email Link at the top of this page.

CW3 George W. Wright was assigned as the new Battalion Personnel Officer.

Vung Tau Convoy  The escort and security mission for the Vung Tau convoy was terminated due to an increase in overnight convoys and the loss of Battalion enlisted personnel to provide security staffing at the Drug Treatment Center (DTC) at the USARV Installation Stockade on Long Binh Post.

     MAJ Herman C. Statum was assigned as the new Battalion Executive Officer.

Reflection  "In late 1971, the Executive Officer (XO) of the 720th MP Battalion was a gentlemen named Herman C. Statum. Major Statum was a former Special Forces Officer who had changed his branch to the Military Police. He was a good officer, but seemed a little too ridged and without a sense of humor. That's my impression as a rather young lieutenant.

     My job was the OIC of the Drug Suppression Team and had almost daily contact with MAJ Statum. Other officers in the Battalion Headquarters area thought much the same. One night on an alert, I heard on the radio that "Triple H" was on his way over to a particular point. I was confused and asked a Captain of one of the companies what that exactly meant. He said it was a code word for the XO. Major Herman Statum. It was not meant to be derogatory, but a phrase used as a code.

     After my tour was over, I returned to Seattle, to await my next assignment at Fort Riley, Kansas. I walked into a major Seattle downtown bank and was going to withdrawal some money. As I went to the area where there were deposits slips, I saw, to my amazement, the words "Ha Ha Herman" hand written on the top deposit slip. I looked around, but saw not a person that could be connected to that saying. What the hell was going on, I thought. This is more than a simple coincidence. This is impossible.

     As I thought about this incident, I remember that 1LT Bernard Anderson of A Company went home on leave prior to my DEROS, and his home town was Seattle. Could he have seen me in the bank and wrote this down without being detected? There was no other explanation. Only a handful of people even knew that Ha Ha Hernam even existed

     Bernard, if you are out there, please tell me this is what happened. Every time I think about this, I get a headache.

     Ha Ha Herman, a phrase written on a bank deposit…..impossible!!!" 1LT John D. Bradley II, Drug Suppression Unit, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, September 1971 to January 1972.

Lai Khe Detachment  A Viet Cong sapper unit attacked the Lai Khe base camp flight line. During the attack four U.S. helicopters were completely destroyed and a number of U.S. and ARVN troops were wounded until the area was again secured. No Battalion detachment facilities were damaged or personnel injured.

     The cause of the successful attack was attributed to a lax US and ARVN perimeter security.

Lai Khe & Phu Loi Detachments   The Provost Marshals Office Detachment at Lai Khe was closed because the space occupied was required for Troop D 3/17th Cavalry that was being moved into the base camp to provide better security.

     The MP’s and equipment were redeployed to the Phu Loi base camp Provost Marshals Office Detachment. One patrol consisting of two enlisted MP’s remained on the Lai Khe base camp at night to provide continuous MP support.

Reflection  "The July 1971 sapper attack at Lai Khe led to the reunion of D Troop, 3/17th [Blue Tigers] with A Troop, 3/17th [Silver Spurs] for the first time in a long time.

     Establishing security at Lai Khe proved to be a simple issue. On the first night we manned the bunkers, the procession of young ladies from Lai Khe village coming through the wire was substantial. They even made house calls to the bunkers, expecting, I think, a different set of troopers. We disabused them of the idea that they were welcome on the base anymore, and after only a few nights, we no longer had to worry that someone caught strolling the flight line might be just a short-time girl. That made our night job much easier.

     D Troop was still at Lai Khe when I left on an early drop for graduate school at Ohio State in early September 1971.”   Bill Nevius - D Troop, 3rd of the 17th Air Cavalry.

Soc Trang & Can Tho Detachments   The small Battalion detachment at Soc Trang was closed and the personnel and equipment were redeployed to the Can Tho Detachment in connection with the stand down activities within that area of Military Region IV. Military Police discipline, law and order support to Soc Trang was provided on an on-call basis.