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146th Military Police Platoon
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This Page Last Updated  8 March 2018

        If you were a veteran of the 146th MP Platoon and recognize any of the events listed on this page, or you are a surviving family member of a veteran of the 146th and would like to contribute Information, personal stories, documents, media articles or photographs, please take a moment to contact the History Project Manager at the Email Link provided above for instructions or assistance. Your contributions are extremely important to the Platoon history and always welcomed.

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23rd Inf.
Division
18th MP
Brigade
89th MP
Group
504th MP
Battalion

     It should be noted that the 146th MP Platoon at times was attached or had its individual squads detached to other MP commands for specific missions, and at the completion of those missions the entire platoon or the separate squads were often absorbed by the command unit and later the platoon or its squads were rebuilt from other military police commands that required additional manpower beyond the limit of their company Table of Organization and Equipment restrictions.

     That's the reason the separate platoons were formed for futy in Vietnam.

Their Tour Begins At Hue ~ Phu Bai
720th MP
Battalion
95th MP
Battalion
1968
July The 146th MP Platoon under the command of LT Charles Stebbins arrived in Hue-Phu Bai in Thua Thien Province, I Corps Tactical Zone from Fort George Meade, Maryland.

        Photo right: Members of the 146th Military Police Platoon disembark a Navy LCU upon their arrival at Hue-Phu Bai, Vietnam. Courtesy of The MP Journal, August 1968.

        The 146th was attached to Company A, 504th MP Battalion, 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade in II Corps Tactical Zone. Their squads operated from Phu Bai to Chu Lai and from Tam Ky to Quang Ngai.

        They worked detainee and convoy escorts as well as combined police patrols with the Vietnamese Military Police - Quan Canh and National Police - Canh Sat.

        146th MP Platoon also worked joint patrols in conjunction with the 504th MP Battalion and the 23rd MP Company of the 23rd Infantry - Americal Division.
1969
Platoon Duties Expand To Chu Lai, Quang Ngai & Tam Ky

Exact Date Unknown The Platoon sent one squad down to Quang Ngai Cityin Quang Ngai Province to conduct road and discipline, law and order patrols. Another squad was sent up to Tam Kyin in Quang Tin Province to perform the same duties.

        The remainder of the platoon stayed at Chu Lai (sixty kilometers southeast of Da Nang) in Quang Nam Province, Military Region I to conduct highway, discipline, law and order patrols, POW guard duty at the 312th Evacuation Hospital, POW escorts to Da Nang for the Marines, convoy escort north to LZ Baldy and Ross, and south to Duc Pho for the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.

February  A detachment was sent to Chu Lai to help out the 23rd MP Company. Their original mission was to provide manpower to the POW compound, which didn’t materialize because of other more important commitment's.

     The 3rd Squad of the 146th was sent to Quang Ngai City, 30 miles south of Chu Lai. The squad combined with Vietnamese Military Police (Quan Canh), and the Vietnamese National Police (Can Sat) performed discipline, law and order patrols within the city, and along the major roadways leading into the city.

     The 3rd squad of the 146th is located in Quang Ngai City, some 30 miles south of Chu Lai. Since their arrival in Quang Ngai, MP's from the 146th have combined with Vietnamese Military Police ((Quan Canh) and the Vietnamese National Police (Can Sat) to patrol within the city of Quang Ngai and along the major roadways leading into the city

     Three English speaking Vietnamese National Policemen and two Vietnamese Military Policemen recently accompany the American MP's in their daily patrol activities.

     Fighting the Viet Cong and working efficiently in their daily routine have cemented the working relationship between the American MP's and their Vietnamese counterparts.

< SP/4 Eugene M. Smith and his Vietnamese MP partner talking with ARVN troops in Quang Ngai City. Photo courtesy of the MP Journal.

     Mr. Steve Rimmer, Public Safety Advisor or Quang Ngai Province, has officially commended the military policemen of the 146th in a letter sent to the commanding officer of the 504th MP Battalion and the Provost Marshal of the 23rd Infantry - Americal Division.

Edited by the History Project Manager from an article and photograph appearing in the MP Journal.

Quang Ngai the capital of the same-named province, Quang Ngai is located on the south bank of the Tra Khuc River, in the southern central coastal region, about 15 kilometers from the coast. Quang Ngai City is adjacent to Quang Nam to the north, Binh Dinh to the south, and Kon Tum to the west. The major rivers in the Provence are the Tra Khuc, Ve, Tra Bong, and Tra Cau.

     With a coast of more than 130 kilometers, Quang Ngai has several important river mouths, the Sa Can, Sa Ky, Cua Dai (Co Luy), Cua Lo, My A, Sa Huynh.

     Quang Ngai's western forests and mountains occupied three fourths of the total area of the province. Its highest mountains were : Ca Dam (1,600m), Da Vach (Thach Bich 1,500m), Cao Muon (1,085m).

March  The men of the 146th were inside their compound in Quang Nai City when a loud explosion was heard just outside the main entrance.

        "At first I thought a rocket had hit close by," said PFC Isaac R. Cockfield, Jr. "I made it to the gate and could see a jeep in a ball of flames. The Vietnamese driver was sprawled alongside the jeep and was screaming as he was trying to crawl away from the vehicle."

     PFC Cockfield rushed into the street, picked up the driver and carried him back into the compound to the quarters of civilian nurses who treated him for his injuries before he was removed to a hospital.

     Meanwhile, SP/4 Eugene M. Smith had spotted an ARVN Lieutenant laying in the street near the jeep and he went outside the compound to get him. He made it safely back to the compound carrying the young Vietnamese officer.

< SP/4 Eugene M. Smith indicates the location of the explosive charge placed by the Viet Cong in the ARVN jeep.

        Shortly after the incident occurred, Vietnamese National Police arrested eight Viet Cong (VC) in downtown Quang Ngai, and one of them, a fourteen-year-old boy, admitted to having planted the charge in the jeep.

        In another VC bombing incident some time later, the two MP's were on patrol in the city when they came on the scene of a terrible explosion that left two Vietnamese children lying unconscious and face down on the ground with extremely severe wounds. After supplying initial first aid on the scene, they radioed for help.

        "Just then a van came down the street and we stopped it and loaded the two kids in to take them to the hospital," SP/4 Smith said. Before we could get going, a Vietnamese woman came up carrying a little girl who had also been hurt in the explosion, apparently in a building close by. We took all three of them to the hospital."

        Mr. Steve Rimmer, Public Safety Advisor or Quang Ngai Province, has officially commended the military policemen of the 146th in a letter sent to the commanding officer of the 504th MP Battalion and the Provost Marshal of the Americal Division.

Edited by the History Project Manager from  an article and photograph appearing in the MP Journal.

        Seven military policemen of the 146th MP Platoon, 504th MP Battalion, have earned a reputation for having developed one of the best working relationships with their Vietnamese counterparts that can be found in combined police operations in Vietnam.

     Members of the Platoon in conjunction with the 23rd MP Company, Americal Division, handle security, convoy escort and police patrol in the City of Tam Ky.

Tam Ky Located in Quang Tin Provence on Highway QL-1 south of Da Nang in I Corps Tactical Zone.

8 June During the early morning hours a Soviet-built 122-mm rocket slammed into ward 4 of the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai. 1LT Sharon A. Lane, age 24, died instantly. Though seven other American military nurses lost their lives serving in Vietnam.

   1LT Lane was the only American servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire throughout the war.

     Also working at the hospital that morning was SP/4 John Roggiero, and Jimmy D. Hammonds of the 146th MP Platoon who were on POW guard detail. Roggiero was also wounded by shrapnel from the attack .

SP/4 Roggiero Was Down But Not Out
Personal Reflection  "On 8 June 1969 I was commanding the 146th MP Platoon. I left in early August for my "Freedom Bird"  ride home. 

    When I arrived on scene the POW (enemy prisoner of war) Ward #4 of the 312th Evacuation Hospital was a charnel house. Where SP/4 Roggiero had been standing was lots and lots of blood, and shrapnel was everywhere.  He, as I recall, took a major hit on his left thigh and lesser injuries to his left calf and ankle.  He had been standing smack in front of what had been the POW Suspect Ward desk.  That desk was totally destroyed, again, as I recollect it. 

     There was a ward desk directly across from where Roggiero was and I looked at it as it was still in apparent good condition.  Upon close inspection, I found the 1/4 inch plywood cover to the desk area just peppered with tiny holes, it was all from the shrapnel which had been blown out by the rocket as it had landed and blown up. I was told the nurse sitting there at that time, forgive a failing memory, I cannot for the life of me remember who was sitting at the desk, but in any case she was not physically injured even a tiny bit by the blast.

        1LT Sharon Lane was laying down napping on the farthest bed in the ward from the blast when the rocket hit the building.  She had a "ultra tiny" pin prick of a hole in her forehead and that is what killed her. 

         I realized I was missing SP/4 Roggiero and about two or three Viet Cong (VC) prisoners so I went looking for them.  To his credit SP/4 Roggiero was across from the Operating Room (OR) in a holding room yelling at the top of  his lungs they were not going to take him to the OR until he was officially relieved from his duty as the POW guard. 

        I found him on a gurney with his .45 belt on his stomach and two very scared VC sitting on the lip of the cement outside of the holding room.  Needless to say, I relieved him so he could be treated by the doctor."  1LT Peter S. Tiffany (MAJ Retired), Commanding Officer, 146th MP Platoon, 504th MP Battalion, 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, 1968-1969.

1970

Exact date Unknown MPs from the Platoon's Quang Ngai Detachment turned firemen to battle a late evening fire and to rescue civilians from burning buildings.

     SP/4 Raymond H. Kennedy saved one child who was overcome by smoke. Smoke and flames coming from the market at Quang Ngai Village were first noticed by SSG Wayne A. Reynolds, a squad leader with the 146th. He immediately notified Police while he and SP/4 Kennedy searched the burning buildings for people who might be inside. They also helped civilians remove their belongings from the buildings. When the fire truck arrived, the MPs helped the Vietnamese firemen assemble the equipment. The MPs then manned the fire hoses to help put out the fire. Before the blaze was completely extinguished, the fire truck’s water supply was exhausted. The National Police and MPs quickly organized the civilians into a bucket brigade, using water, mud and sandbags to extinguish the fire.

     If anyone can assist in identifying the month or day of this incident, or provide any further details or photographs, please notify the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

Reassigned To The 89th MP Group, 95th & 720th MP Battalions

20 February The 146th MP Platoon, previously formed from the 3rd Platoon of B Company, 504th MP Battalion in Chu Lai, was relieved from assignment and the platoon, less personnel, were relocated to Vung Tau  in Phuoc Tuy Province of Military Region III and reassigned to the 89th MP Group, 720th MP Battalion for administrative and logistical support.

     The detachment was also assigned the security and VIP escort responsibilities at the United States Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) Headquarters on Long Binh Post in Bien Hoa Province, Military Region III as a "Special Platoon" under the operational control of the 95th MP Battalion.

Photo (right) G0386 PFC John Woods, assigned to the 146th MP Platoon, helps two Vietnamese civilians at the entrance to United States Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) Headquarters as PFC Peter Hughes places the Commanding Generals flag in position, 1970. Courtesy of the MP Journal, October 1970.

"The Special Platoon"

     It was a specialized assignment where the MP's had to look sharp and be sharp at all times. The 146th MP Platoon Commander, 1LT William Taylor, would select the men for the assignment based on their experience and military bearing.

     The MP's worked eight-hour shifts, guarding the top security offices and command entrance to the USARV Headquarters. The MP's manned the entrances to all restricted areas. All military personnel wanting entrance to the restricted areas had to first have their name on a "special roster," or be granted approval for entrance by a staff member of the particular room.

     Some notable VIP escort assignments were, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, General William C. Westmorland, Bob Hope and Miss World, Jennifer Hosten from Grenada.

        The VIP escort team would prepare for each escort by conducting reconnaissance of the area of travel, map the route, plan for hazardous areas and traffic congestion.

        The escorts were conducted with two MP gun jeeps, the lead vehicle contained an MP and the escort officer, usually from the USARV Protocol Office, and a trail jeep with an MP and the NCOIC of the 146th MP Platoon.

        The MP's that worked the assignment were proud the their specialized job and showed it in their performance record.

        This information was edited by the History Project Manager from an October 1970 MP Journal article.

2 April CPT Charles M. Morris, Jr. Commanding Officer, departed .
12 July The 148th MP Platoon was still subordinate to the 95th MP Battalion (Long Binh Post) according to Special Orders 185.
17 September Under General Orders 4403, the Department Of The Army, Headquarters United States Army Vietnam, awarded the 504th MP Battalion’s Headquarters Detachment, A Company and C Company, 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade and its attached 146th MP Platoon (1 May 1968 to 20 February 1970) their first Meritorious Unit Commendation.
31 October The 146th MP Platoon is listed on the 23rd Infantry - Americal Division Troop List, as attached to the 504th MP Battalion, on their Operations Report-Lessons Learned for the period ending 31 October 1970.
Reassigned To The 16th MP Group, 504th MP Battalion
1971
     If you were a member of the 146th MP Platoon during 1971 and can provide any information, stories, photographs of the platoon activities during that time please notify the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.
1972
27 November Department of the Army General Orders Number 42, Dated 27 November 1972, authorized the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm (Ribbon) for the 146th MP Platoon.
     If you were a member of the 146th MP Platoon during 1972 and can provide any information, stories, photographs of the platoon activities during that time please notify the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.
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