Death In An Alley

  By:

  Rod Herrick      Charles E. Penley
  716th MP BN    377th Security Police:

  If you were in Saigon, on Jan 31, 1968, around 0300 hours, you would
  know the sounds of everyday life.  The main boulevards were very wide
  and most of the alleys were barely twenty feet wide.

  There, just off Vo Tanh Street was BOQ # 3, located approximately three
  blocks from the sprawling Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Main Gate.

  The enemy, the Viet Cong, terrorists really, are just down that alley, that runs north and south beside the billets.

One of the 716th Military Police jeeps manned by SP4 Rod Herrick and Sgt Jerry Bowen (Car-61) gave BOQ # 3 MP's and Nung Guard's the verbal warning of the attack on the US Embassy.

Herrick and Bowen then departed that location to give warning to the other BOQ’s and BEQ’s in their assigned patrol area.

BOQ # 3 was just one of many locations that now came under attack.  At first it was just small arms weapons fire.  Later, it would be larger and more powerful weapons, claymore mines, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

BOQ # 3 called the Military Police for rescue.  All 716th Military Police were on duty throughout the city at that time.  Several MP emergency vehicles responded to assist them.

The US Army deuce and a half truck, containing numerous Military Police, entered the long alley off of Cach Mang Street, heading north in the alley.

Then suddenly, the enemy opened up with their attack, trapping numerous MP's in the alley.  They could not drive the deuce backwards and could not turn it around in the small narrow alley.

Another MP jeep, manned by Sgt Tom Winters (Sgt Rock.) and his partner, (their call sign Car # 60), came to assist the MP's trapped in the alley.  They spent most of the first several hours at the alley at BOQ # 3 trying to rescue the men in the alley.

Subsequently, Winters and his partner were pinned down, while trying to assist their fellow MP's who are their buddies.

It was now house to house warfare in Saigon.

Sgt's Herrick and Bowen spent most their time responding to other BOQs and BEQs that were under ground attack.  Both of these MPs got pinned down at the Royal Oaks BEQ.  Waiting until daylight to get out, one ARVN guard killed several VC.  Car # 61’s vehicle took five bullet holes but Herrick and Bowen were never hit, Lucky!!!  They took out alot of VC that night as did the MP's at the Embassy.   Herrick and Bowen went to “C” Company Headquarters to replenish their ammo and grab some food.

Bowen stayed at company headquarters and Jerry Howe jumped in with Herrick.  They responded to the Den Bigh BEQ and got pinned down there for the next two and a half days.

Twenty-two Military policemen were killed that night. Their names are:

At the Embassy:

Sgt. Thomas, Johnnie E.
Sp4 Daniel, Charles L.
Sp4 Mebust, Owen
Pfc Sebast, WIlliam M.

On the Truck, in the Alley:

Sgt. Grieve, Michael A.
Pfc Lasurk, Danny L.
Sgt. Hiley, Tom
Pfc Ojeda, Nestor
Sp4 Anthony, Carey C.
Pfc Richardson, Harry F.
Sp4 Doody, Douglas W.
Pfc Riegel, Terry L.
Sp4 Faught, Frank
Pfc Schutt, Randall K.
Pfc Bowen, Ronald M.
Pfc Seidensticker, James
Pfc Gilley, Richard A.
Pfc Smith, John T. (driver)
Pfc Homsley, Ivan D.
Pfc Walsh, James E.
Pfc Kenerly, Warren E.
Pfc Yarbough, Lester G.

Permission is given to reproduce this story, if printed in full context and credit is given to the authors.  (Copyright 2008)