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No incident exemplifies the courage, tenacity,
and determination of combat military police better than the security and
movement of allied troops across the Ludendorf Bridge at Remagen, Germany.
Left standing by the hastily retreating German Army, the bridge was given
great priority for capture and protection by Supreme Allied Headquarters.
Major General Louis Craig, 9th Infantry Division Commander, ordered
his Provost Marshal, Major Clair Hull Thurston, to move his military police
ahead of the division to reconnoiter the best route and provide security
to the bridge until the division arrived. On the morning of 6 March
the 47th Infantry began a crossing operation which attracted a barrage of
enemy artillery and sniper fire that which lasted for ten days. The bridge
traffic was limited to foot traffic for the first two days; but by 9 March
1945, trucks and tanks began to cross the span. Military police were stationed
at intervals along both sides of the bridge, and other MP manned sniper positions
on the river banks to prevent German frogmen from blowing up the bridge.
From 9 March to 17 March the military police stood at their posts on the
bridge. Unable to take cover, they maintained a steady flow of supplies,
evacuees, and troop movement across it. Since numerous vehicles were hit,
the military police had to clear the wreckage and to serve as replacements
for injured or frightened drivers. Aid stations and prisoner of war cages
at both ends of the bridge were also manned by military police temporarily
rotated from their bridge positions. In addition, wire communications across
the bridge were installed and maintained by the military police. After five
days, the 9th Military Police Company was augmented by seventy-five
infantrymen. By March 17, three divisions had crossed the bridge at Temagen
and the 9th Military Police Company was ordered to return to its division
which was rapidly advancing into Germany. The bridge collapsed just minutes
after this company had left its positions. The military police displayed
magnificent courage, control, and discipline throughout the ordeal. They
showed little concern for their own personal safety in the face of almost
certain death. Instead, they managed to speed traffic across the bridge,
limiting casualties and aiding in the rapid advance of allied troops. Their
efforts were honored by the receipt of a Presidential Unit Citation for Gallantry
in Action.
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In 1967, a cordon and search operation,
"Operation Corral," occurred. It was designed to locate and destroy any enemy
close-in strike capability directed against the Long Binh Post complex. The
operation began at precisely 1800 hours on 11 September 1967, as the thundering
sound of helicopters, tanks, and armored personnel carriers brought the 9th
Infantry Division's MP contingent into the staging area. Within the next
five minutes over 250 men from the 720th Military Police Battalion converged
on the area, equipped with gun jeeps, V-100 Commando cars, searchlights,
loudspeakers, and barbed wire barricades. As the infantry sealed and secured
the area and supporting helicopter gunships prowled the sky, the men of the
720th combed through huts, muddy undergrowth and rice paddies. Their objective
was to flush out Viet Cong, VC sympathizers, enemy supplies, and contraband.
When the failing rays of sunset turned day into night, huge artillery flares
and searchlights enabled the 720th to continue its aggressive and intensive
search around the clock.
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