Find People you served with from C Company, 504th Military Police Battalion. Their military jeep approaches a U.S. Army truck parked on the roadside. . Friendships grew between the Roadrunners and the children; some of the MPs made strong efforts to learn Bahnar. Above: Ken Tuggle, "C" Co., 716th MPs, receives the Army Commendation Medal from battalion commander LTC Theodore S. Kanamine. This supply route was considered to be one of the most crucial and treacherous in Vietnam, perhaps as tough a trip as had ever faced a trucker. As it had during World War II, the battalion participated in a large number of campaigns and earned decorations for outstanding service. His efforts, along with those of attacking armor and Roadrunners, succeeded in driving the enemy force away, but with severe losses to both sides. 504th MP Bill Carson tries to convince a Montnagard girl to let them transport her injured brother to the medic. Occasionally, something exotic (such as M-72 light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) was added to the arsenal, but only when available. Jacob extended his tour of duty in Vietnam past the required one year. It was more than just a simple sharing of food. Harold "Hal" Moore Jr., US Army lieutenant general, author; led 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment at 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley; his best-known book, co-authored with combat journalist Joe Galloway, is "We Were Soldiers Once . As they had done on Highway 14 from Pleiku to Kontum (a stretch of road also patrolled by Roadrunners), engineers used specially equipped Rome plows to clear the jungle for 100 yards on both sides of the road. Both the Roadrunners and the children experienced love and trust, elements missing from the war environment. During the Tet Offensive in 1968, B Company was involved mainly in sealing off the Pleiku area and defending Camp Schmidt, but it also played an important part in the defense of the MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) compound in Kontum. In addition to the military traffic, the road was also busy with civilian vehicles–such as buses and lambrettas (motor scooters)–and pedestrians. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. These morning convoys were most likely to run into trouble in Roadrunner territory, particularly near Mang Yang Pass. A gun-truck (with a quad .50-caliber machine gun) was on hand, and although the gunner was eventually killed, he burned out all four barrels firing on the attackers before dying. In their place, Roadrunners might don scarves or sunglasses as they sped down the road. After destroying his prey, he would vanish, leaving a mess on the road for the highwaymen. Both were bloody affairs and would forever take their place as central chapters in Roadrunner history. The lead gun-jeep was too far ahead to provide firepower, but the second Roadrunner jeep was in the thick of the action. Also incls OR-LLs from 18th MP Bde, 16th and 89th MP Grps and 720th MP Bn. Air Force Units Army Units Coast Guard Units Marine Corps Units Navy Units Become a VetFriends Member Site Map. The VC used two types, pressure-detonated mines and command-detonated mines. The 504th MP Battalion moved north to Phu Bai in November 1968, to Da Nang in August 1970, and then to Long Binh in 1972 before finally departing Vietnam on July 31. The Roadrunners grouped there, waiting for the ‘big boys’ (the tanks and APCs) to clear the road of mines; then, with the words, ‘Highway one niner Echo is now open,’ all the gun-jeeps (except for one that remained at the CP to coordinate the convoys) sped off into the fate of another day. Responsibility on the road was divided: one patrol (two gun-jeeps) took one half of the road, while another patrolled the other half. First photo: SFC Douglas Lord of 508th Military Police Detention Battalion briefs Lt. Gen. Randy A. George, I Corps Commanding General, on the specifics of the event. The Americans suffered one killed in action, while the NVA lost eight men (five credited to the Roadrunners), and 12 blood trails were also found. It is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, for members who served honorably with Co. B 504th Military Police Battalion in Pleiku, and its detachments, during its tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam Flag of South Vietnam on a triangle alluding to the mountainous terrain of the second and third tactical zones of South Vietnam, refer to service in that country, for which it was awarded six decorations. William B. Shockley, physicist, co-inventor of the transistor. The children (ages 3 to 10) hung around the soldiers, waiting to beg for leftover C-rations that could help feed their families. Above, MPs Smitty, Brock, Porch, Nichols, Abma and Moran at Camp Evans, 504th MP BN. They never made it. INVENTORY OF UNIT ORLLs/AARs/MISC. I'm going by memory, but I think the MP unit at Camp Eagle, those who provided police duty and gate security were B Company, 504th MP Battalion. U.S. Military Police (MP) in Vietnam. While town patrol was responsible for law and order in Pleiku City, the highway platoon conducted armed patrols on Highway 14 (Pleiku to Kontum) and Highway 19 (Pleiku to the An Khe Pass). Now, involved in yet another war, the road took on a different look. Just about everything in the U.S. arsenal was brought to bear at one time or another on this road. ‘Roadrunner 3’ and ‘3 Alpha’ were eastbound, escorting a military policeman to CP 27. Death on the road could come suddenly in the shape of a mine explosion, a sniper’s bullet or a B-40 rocket. The wire would be followed, but the odds of finding anyone home were slim. Checkpoint 30A was a gathering point, not only for MPs but also for Montagnard children from the nearby village. The 504th arrived in the Phu Tai Valley, Qui Nhon, on August 31, 1965. Although an ambush could involve an intense battle, the most dreaded enemy tactic was the land mine. A favorite Viet Cong target was the 5,000-gallon tanker (often carrying JP-4 aviation fuel) that was hauled by the 359th Transportation Company. Then, on February 20, 1970, B Company was dropped from its attachment to the 93rd and reassigned to its parent battalion, with concurrent transfer to Da Nang. While a typical day of patrolling might be long and boring, the danger was always there.

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