History The 212TH MP Company was constituted on Jan. 1, 1942, and activated on May 15, 1942, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Between May 15, 1942, and Feb. 19, 2010, it was activated and inactivated eight times. Between 1950 and 1953, the unit was allotted to the regular Army where it served honorably in the Republic of Korea earning the Republic of Korea Presidential Company Citation. After the Korean conflict, the unit was relocated to Japan and was inactivated on June 24, 1958. The unit then activated on April 15, 1960, in Italy before being inactivated August 16, 1965. On Jan. 10, 1966, the unit was reactivated to provide K9 support in the republic of Vietnam. Prior to being inactivated on Nov. 8, 1972, the unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for its actions in Vietnam. On Oct. 21, 1977, the unit was activated in Wuerzburg, Germany, and settled in Kitzingen, Germany, where it performed Military Police Combat support in Support of V CORPS. The unit deployed to Southwest Asia on Dec. 4, 1990, in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, during the Gulf War, the unit performed Internment and Resettlement Operations in Kuwait and Iraq. Since Dec. 29, 1995, the unit has deployed to various Baltic Regions including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Macedonia, and Albania. The unit returned June 15, 2000, from Kosovo after supporting Task Force Hawk and Task Force Falcon. The unit deployed to Poland in support of Operation Victory Strike from Sept. 13, 2001, until Oct. 20, 2001. The unit then deployed to Kosovo from Nov. 25, 2002, until July 18, 2003, in support of Operation Joint Guardian from March 2008 until May 2009, the unit deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit was then inactivated in Germany on Feb. 4, 2010. Feb. 19, 2010, marks the activation and restationing of the 212TH MP Company at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Description
This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
