BATTALION HISTORY BOOK INDEX

To Website Home Page

BOOK POLICY

Page Last Undated March 2020

We invite you to submit any personal reviews you may have of any of these books directly to the website via the Email Links provided.

Vietnam Journal Volume-I

"We did it all and then some!"

720th Military Police Battalion, United States Army

The Soldiers of the Gauntlet at War, October 1966 ~ August 1972

By Thomas Terry Watson, Edited by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert P. Schmitz

A 700 page chronology (with photographs & maps) of the battalion's service in Vietnam personalized by the reflections of the veterans who lived it.

Follow the new generation of Soldiers of the Gauntlet who came of age during the turbulent and divisive years of the 1960s and 70s during their preparation, deployment, and service in South Vietnam.

Regardless of unit, if you are a military police veteran of the Vietnam era, it will finally provide you and the Military Police Corps with a clear and concise documentation of a history of service to be proud of.

Available for sale in hard and soft cover sets or individually, please use this Website Link to make a purchase. All proceeds benefit the programs and projects of the reunion association.

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link

Vietnam Journal Volume-II

"Operation STABILIZE"

720th Military Police Battalion, United States Army

Military Police in Their First Counterinsurgency Mission

11 September 1967 - 25 July 1970

By Thomas Terry Watson, Edited by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert P. Schmitz

A 578 page chronology (with photographs and maps) of the Military Police Corps historical first counterinsurgency and pacification mission, personalized by reflections of the veterans who lived it.

The story of the three-year history of a traditional Army-level Military Police battalion assigned the previously unheard of mission responsibility of light infantry counterinsurgency warfare in South Vietnam.

This was the first time in the history of the United States Armed Forces that a military police battalion was tasked with such a mission and placed in direct operational control of a Tactical Area Of Responsibility (TAOR) and authority for the direct control of infantry, air, armor, and artillery elements when called upon for support. At the time there was no precedent for it.

Available for sale in hard and soft cover sets or individually, please use this Website Link to make a purchase. All proceeds benefit the programs and projects of the reunion association.

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link

    Merry Christmas to you and your family. I got your books and absolutely found it near impossible to put them down . Great job, my friend...

    This is a great book and I highly recommend it. This shows what the Military Police really did in Vietnam. I was there with the Battalion from the beginning and this history is spot on. Thank you, Tom. Ron Kidder C-Company, 1966-1967....

SP/4 Ron F. Kidder, 1st.Squad, 1st. Platoon,C Company, 1966-1967.

     Friday I received my hard cover copies of you book and find it very interesting and enjoyable. I started with the Operation Stabilize first. One of the amazing things about your book is that it caused me to work harder to get my yard work done this weekend so I could get back to the book.

     Thanks for a very good narrative of our unit and congratulation on a job well done. Daniel S. Dobbs, SP/4 (SSG Ret.) B Company, 1968.

     Just finished reading Book II, Volume II............... absolutely awesome..... thank you so much for your efforts...... it was tears and joy combined..... I just ordered Book II, Volume 1 and can't wait for its perusal.... keep up the great work. CPT Jeffrey A. Gilbert, B Company, "BUSHWACKER," 1969-1970.

    Thanks for your unselfish time, effort and research in the writing of these two volumes. Our “tour of duty”, was only one year and that’s what we remember. You provide the reader with what the Battalion did before and after our tours. You paint a picture of what a, “combat Military Policeman” does outside of his/her MOS. Its’ not all spit and polish but down and dirty as an infantryman. Good piece of writing. SGT Gary A. Sundt, A Company, 1967-1968.

Letters From LONG BINH

"Memories of a Military Policeman in Vietnam"

Awarded an "Honorable Mention" by the Military Writers Society Of America.

By Randy Mixter

The story line of the book is based on the letters I wrote home to my wife during my tour of duty in Vietnam with the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion in 1967. Randy Mixter randym246@comcast.net.

Available for sale in soft cover, to make a purchase please use the authors Email Link above.

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link

     "Letters from Long Binh gives the reader an honest appraisal of the everyday life of an MP in Vietnam. Sometimes poignant,sometimes humorous, but always gripping, the book is written with a deep sense of respect for his fellow brothers-in-arms in a war-torn country.” SP/4 Lou Fantauzzi - 615th MP Company,Vietnam 1966-1967.

Warrior Police

"Rolling With America's Military Police In The World's Trouble Spots"

By Lt. Col. (Ret) Gordon Cucullu and Chris Fontana

For the first time ever, an explosive inside look at modern Military Police units and their role in defending our freedom.

America has been at war on several fronts since the 9/11 attack. While public attention has focused on Marines, conventional Army units, and Special Operations Forces, a lion's share of the war-fighting has been done, under media radar, by Military Police units. These squad and platoon-sized units patrol dangerous urban streets, build up local police units to improve neighborhood stability, and conduct civic action missions. On many occasions they have rushed into a vicious firefight to come to the assistance of infantry units in desperate straits. They keep villages Taliban-free, monitor balloting sites, and interdict drug shipments. In detention centers at Camp Bucha, Iraq, Bagram, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo, Cuba they guard some of the most dangerous terrorists in history.

The story is told by the soldiers themselves, recounting what they have seen and experienced, along with historical context and first-hand field observations by the author team who were provided with unique inside access. Warrior Police takes readers into the bloody streets of Iraq, the dangerous back-country of Afghanistan, and wherever our Military Police are needed.

Available for sale in hard and soft cover at  BarnesandNoble.com  or   Amazon.com

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link

     I love reading military history, especially books in which the former commanders dare to step out from behind the shadows of the scrubbed politically correct official headquarters summaries to reveal the true dirt and grit faced by their troops in war. This book meets that  requirement.

     It includes interesting insight from then Colonel David Phillips, Commander of the 89th MP Brigade, and former commander of the 720th (1998-2000), as to the political as well as tactical decisions being made that affected the American soldiers and MPs (including the 720th) during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

     Historically astute MP veterans of the Vietnam era will see that the more things change, the more they remain the same. CPL Thomas T. Watson, BRAVO Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Vietnam, 1968-1969.

Combat Police

"U.S. Army Military Police In Vietnam"

By Richard Young

In the early 1970's, the U.S. Army published a set of monographs on the Vietnam War entitled 'Vietnam Study Series.' This series covered most of the major aspects of the conflict from airmobile operations to financial management, but did not include the activities of the military police.

Rick Young's Combat Police completes the series by presenting a systematic analysis of military police organization and operations during the Vietnam War. Included are extensive Tables of Organization and Equipment, Orders of Battle, maps, and detailed tables of unit locations, strengths, and operational commitments. There are also a handful of personal accounts which provide an individual military policeman's 'foxhole' perspective,' as well as actual news articles from The Roundup, an official newspaper of the military police serving in Vietnam.

These articles provide insight into how the military police viewed itself in its efforts towards winning the 'war with no strategy.' Structured similarly to the Vietnam Study Series format, Combat Police demonstrates how, in the guerrilla war with No Frontline's, military policemen were often thrust into situations where they had to be combat soldiers first and policemen second!

First printing available in soft cover only at AbesBooks.com

Second printing available in soft cover at Amazon.com

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link

     Rick Young's book was published at a time before the Military Police Corps outgrew its poor performance of historical record keeping and the technological growth of personal computers, the Internet and Email as they are known today. It was a time when I was starved for anything closely related to factual historical information on the roll of military police in Vietnam.

     I was only a few years into collecting materials on the Vietnam history of the 720th MP Battalion without having a goal beyond writing a plain textual timeline with supporting photographs.

     After reading it the first time, I became so excited I turned my new copy of the First Edition into a dog eared mess from scribbling personal notes on every page. It was what I was looking for, a non-fiction book written by a Vietnam era military policeman that also included information on the 720th and source notes on where more information could be located.

     From his detailed book I formed a foundation through the following decade for turning my mundane timeline history into a personalized historical summary that not only documented our small but proud and unique part of military history in Vietnam, but expanded it into a theater wide strategic perspective of why we were doing what we did, something that we were never told during our tours in-country.

     We owe our gratitude to Rick Young for showing us the way.

CPL Thomas T. Watson, BRAVO Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, Vietnam, 1968-1969, and author of Vietnam Journal, History of the 720th MP Battalion Volume-I & II.

Soldiers Of The Gauntlet

"Memories of the 720th Military Police Battalion United States Army"

1942 ~ 1992

By Eric J. Dietrich-Berryman and William C. Truckey

720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association, Inc.

Originally published as a tribute to the battalion in support of the 50th Anniversary of WWII Commemorative Community Program, the book is a collection of short stories, reflections, official documents and photographs from the members of the 720th MP Battalion covering its deployments during World War II, the Occupation of Japan, Korea (Charlie Company as the X Corps MP Company-Provisional), Vietnam, Panama and Desert Storm.

Materials were submitted by members of the 720th MP Battalion Reunion Association of all ranks from private to general with a preface by Jean MacArthur; wife of the late General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur.

Available for sale in hardcover only through the 720th MP Battalion Reunion Association Post Exchange  Check out our price. All proceeds benefit the programs and projects of the reunion association.

To submit a review of this book use this Email Link