Response to request by Lloyd Kahan requesting info on 212th MP Company

Ran across a Jan 8, 2020 request from Lloyd Kahanrequesting info on the  212th MP company that served  in Vietnam (see Seeking records of 212th Military Police Company (Sentry Dog)).  I am one of the original members of that company, serving in Vietnam from July,1965 - June,1966. We flew by C130 cargo plane from CA to Vietnam, via Hawaii, Wake Island, Okinawa, to Saigon, Vietnam.  We were an original company of 150 men. From a staging area in Saigon, we were broken into groups of 15 to 20 men, and spread over bases throughout Vietnam.  I was stationed with a 16 man group in Quinhon, Vietnam, and attached to the 508th MP Company (for support and rations only). the 212th HQ remained in Saigon. Our missions were sentry dog security of airstrips, PX's, ration breakdowns, missile sites, and other facilities of interest where dogs were advantages.  I recycled back to the US in June, 1966, and served the remainder of my time at Ft. Detrick, MD, (along with 2 other members of my Vietnam team... one which later died from cancer (Johnson P. Williams), and not sure of what happened to the other one (Last name: Alexander).  While serving at Ft Detrick, it was then a chemical/biological center. I understand it has since been designated a Cancer Research Center.

We trained our dogs at Lackland Air Force base in Texas, and was originally guaranteed security duties in the US, that is, until the uptick in activities in Vietnam. My original US assignment was to be a missile site in Irwin, PA, however, when arriving at that site after graduation from dog training, I was told I had a ten day leave, and then was being sent to Vietnam... a first for dogs and handlers. When I questioned my GUARENTEED stateside duty promise, I was told, because other unaccompanied dogs that had been sent to Vietnam had been eaten by native Vietnamese, a request was made for dogs and handlers to be sent . As can be ascertained, I served an 11 months tour in country before recycling back to the US.

NOTE: when reviewing records provided me by Elliot Schneider, I found my name (Richard S Arkward), to include others, missing from the 1965 roster. And others assigned to my platoon in Quinhon are misplaced with regards to duty location. IE:, Curtis Coats, William Alexander, Huggins, etc:. served with my platoon in Quinhon.  Some missing names from the 1965 roster, including mine, are, SGT Fagan's (our platoon SGT); SSGT Kanouse, my platoon leader; Johnson P. Williams, (dog handler)... and others. Apparently, either the records are incorrect, else, they were transcribed improperly.

I hope this brief narrative will lead to research, and a correction of records for the initial 212th MP Company, especially initial records clarifying company's formation, and initial member's names, else, my service in Vietnam was just a dream!