Page Title
| Convoys in Vietnam |
The role of the U S Army Military Police Corps in Vietnam was
changing. In addition to the traditional law and order, security,
prisoner and stockade duties, MPs were taking on more combat
support duties. One of these duties was convoy security. I have
2 memories that I can share with the reader.
On the 3rd mission that I was assigned, we had an Officer in
Charge, who led the convoy and a Sergeant First Class at the end
of the column. My gun jeep was in the center and I would have
been the 3rd ranking MP on the convoy. Scattered throughout
the column we would have additional MPs based on the number
of trucks in the convoy. Each MP vehicle would have a 2 men in
the front seat and a gunner manning the M-60 Machine Gun. In
addition to the M-60 each man was armed with a rifle, pistol and
hand grenades. The passenger could also be armed with a
shotgun or M-79 Grenade Launcher. This day I had a shotgun. I
loved that shotgun, if the gunner could not get the bad guy and
he was close, I knew that I couldn't miss.
When providing escorts for convoys our job was to protect the
vehicles and keep the trucks moving. The column would
normally start at first light and continue at various speeds until
the destination was reach.
On this bright, sunny and hot day, we were out about an hour and
just passed through a small village and a Claymore Mine was
detonated on the road on the right of my jeep. Lucky for my crew
and I, the mine was placed facing away from us or I would not be
telling this story. The force of the explosion into the dirt did
nothing more than make a lot of noise and fill my head and face
with dirt. The driver lost control and went off the shoulder and
the trucks behind us stopped. I immediately instructed the
gunner to stay alert and the driver to get on the road and keep
the trucks moving without slowing. I radioed the incident to the
Officer in Charge and told him what happened and that there
were no injuries. After several minutes, to be sure that we were
not under attack, I ordered the driver back to the jeep so we
could move up to the position we were assigned. Before the
jeep was started the trucks in front of us were stopped and the
Sergeant and Officer were at my location. I quickly told them
everything was under control and we should get the trucks
moving. They started yelling at me to tell them more info, but I
was more concerned about the convoy just standing still, making
them targets and started yelling at them to follow proper
procedure and get moving.
As you can imagine they were not happy with me. When we
returned to the base that night they came to see me and said
they would report me for insubordination. I suggested, in strong
terms, that they sleep on that decision, since their action put
everyone in the convoy in jeopardy. After a short time, they
simply told me to never counterman their orders again and left.
For several months I had nothing but trouble with those two, but
it all worked out.
The second incident occurred several weeks later. Everything went
well with this mission and we were on the way back to base.
There were 9 Military Police Gun Jeeps and a tank leading the
way back. The trip was about 45 miles and it was late in the day
(the tank slowed us up). About 25 miles into the trip one of the
Gun Jeeps got a flat tire. My unit was right behind them, so we
pulled over to help provide security while the tire was fixed. I
radioed in and reported to the Officer in Charge (the same one
from the first story). He ordered me to leave the area and
rejoin the group and tell the other men to hurry and catch up. I
knew that the tank would only be with us another 2 miles where
his camp was located. It would seem to me that they should
reach there about then and the column would pick up speed. This
scenario would leave the broken down vehicle alone and in the
dark, which to me was unacceptable. At this time I informed the
Officer that it would be safer if I and perhaps a 3rd vehicle wait
and all return together. He started screaming into the radio that
I should leave now. Holding down the mike and making noises, I
reported that my radio was malfunctioning and that I could not
understand his transmission, then ignored him completely.
About 10 minutes later we were on our way, but darkness was
approaching quickly. You normally would not drive a small vehicle
on this section of Highway 1A after dark, so we pushed the jeeps
to the limit.
Maybe 5 minutes passed when we received a radio message from
an Air Force Jet flying overhead. The pilot told us that he
spotted a group of VC about 1 mile ahead and on the right side of
us. He suggested that he could strafe the area quickly, but then
he must return to base. Seconds later we could see the tracer
rounds lashing out in the area then he pulled up an wished us luck.
We feel that guy really made a difference and we made it back
safely.
The next day, I was not scheduled for duty and at 7:00 AM a
corporal came in and woke me up to tell me that the Company
Commander wanted to see me at 8:00am. When I reported to
the Captain, he told me that the Officer in charge questioned my
actions. I told him my side of the story and he dismissed me.
That was the last convoy escort duty that I was assigned to and
started working at the Long Binh Military Police Station.I Suppose
I can thank that damn Lieutenant for my good fortune, I never
did like Convoy Duty.
