The Road

Rolling Line Haul Museum

The roads in Vietnam had many hazards. There was small cities and towns with narrow and crowded streets. Some were paved and some were dirt. There were ones that were flat and others through steep mountain passes. But these were on the good days. During the monsoons, dirt became mud and in the heat of the summer, mud became dust.

The roads were maintained by the engineers. They completed paving projects, inspected the road for damage and mines with the support of the EOD (Explosive Ordenance Disposal). They cleared the foliage back away from the road so the enemy could not hide close to passing convoys.

"In the 23rd MP Co, we routinely escorted convoys as a major part of our mission. In the 66th MP Co however our mission was more or less law enforcement, road and pipeline security and any other job that came along. The transportation guys had much more effective security in the way of armored Gun Trucks than we could have. The V100's were really not that good, what with the gun problems, thin armor and the fact that the driver being surrounded by 65 gallons of MOGAS in the tanks upfront. We used them to patrol QL-19 along with the M151's. We would look for the so called "outlaw" convoys by using what would now be called profiling. By knowing who was supposed to be on the road and who were not. There were checkpoints but they were usually near the city of Qui Nhon. Once you hit QL-19, it was a open road to Pleiku. We might occasionally set up a checkpoint somewhere but it was not a regular thing. There was a POL pipeline running along QL-19 from Qui Nhon up to An Khe and possibly further west. The Viet's would drill a hole in the pipe when the fuel was not flowing and then put a pipe, valve and hose system in and tap off the fuel into 55 gal drums. In the morning road clearence runs we would see the emptys along side the road that were dropped off by the Viet trucks picking up the full ones. We had a good pipeline fire one morning that engulfed a good portion of the road as well as several Viet hooches where fuel was being put into drums. Imagine a 12" diameter pipe pouring fuel of some sort on to the road which was already on fire" Al Feser 23rd MP Co.

Also to help maintain "safer" roads. MP (Military Police) Units would patrol the highways, provide security for convoys and enforce driving rules. "Yes" it has been told that truckers did, on occasion recieve "Speeding Tickets" in the war zone.


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