South Vietnamese National Police, “The White Mice”--two Vietnam-era figures
$89.00
Item Number: VN176
South Vietnamese National Police, “The White Mice”--two Vietnam-era figures
A familiar sight on many South Vietnamese city, town and occasionally village streets were these members of the National Police. Clad in white cotton shirts and light grey trousers many of these policemen joined the police to avoid military conscription while enriching themselves at the same time with all kinds of corruption and intimidation. It was often said by many South Vietnamese that the ‘White Mice’ committed many more crimes than they actually ever solved! It’s also an unfortunate truth that these policemen were seen to be ‘walking targets’ for the Viet Cong. And so, even if you made a lot of money… you might not live long enough to spend it!
"GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!"
During the Vietnam conflict, nearly all Military Police duties and operations came under the direct control of the 18th Military Police Brigade headquartered at Vung Tau, southeast of Saigon and situated at the tip of a small peninsula. Members of the Brigade deployed to Vung Tau in September 1966 and soon established major sub groups at Nha Trang and Long Binh. Smaller units were then stationed throughout every tactical zone ranging from Da Nang in the north to Soc Trang in the south.
In all of these and hundreds of other smaller locations, MPs performed a wide and expanding range of missions including handling and processing prisoners-of-war, security of vessels and port facilities as well as vital installations and VIP protection.
At the same time, with the rapid expansion of U.S Ground Forces in South Vietnam, maintenance of discipline and law and order in the military were very high on the Brigade’s priorities list… both on and around U.S. bases and also on the streets and highways of South Vietnam.
TOTAL STRENGTH
Even at the height of American involvement in Vietnam with over 500,000 U.S. troops deployed ‘in-country’ the Brigade strength was just 6,000 strong.
Our three new releases provide some welcome additions to this dynamic series…
Released in MAY 2023.
