Jan Feb '09 Saber.indd - First Cavalry Division Association

Page 21 JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 2009545th MP COMPANYSam Reinert626 ½ South 9th St.Richmond, IN 47374(765) 962-4627 ph and FAXsamreinert1@545thmpcoassn.orghttp://www.545thmpassn.org/Greetings Fellow 545th MPs! Happy New Year to all! Now that the holidaysare behind us, we will get back to the activities and history of the 545th MPCompany, First Team’s Finest.On a sad note, on November 26, 2008, LTC Louis S. Mehl who commandedthe 545th MP Company at Camp Drake, Japan and also during the KoreanWar passed away quietly in his sleep athis home in Melbourne, Florida. Hisashes will be interned at the NationalCemetery, Arlington, Virginia onMonday, the 9th of March, 2009 at 1300hrs to full military honors to include arider less horse ceremony.LTC Mehl was thelast real Cavalry MPOfficer as he hadgraduated from thelast Basic OfficersCavalry Course atFort Riley, Kansasbefore his assignmentto the MilitaryPolice Corps. HeSketch of CPTMehl drawn bya 545th MP atCamp Drake,Japan 1949.spent the war yearsof WW II in the 545th MP Motorcycles at CampEuropean Theater Drake 1949.and upon cessationof hostilities was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry,1st Cavalry Division at Camp Drake, Japan. He caught theattention of MG Chase, the Division commander, right awaysince he was extremely tall and had an imposing militarybearing and in the words of MG Chase “just the man tocommand our division Military Police” and so was assignedthe command of the 545th MP Company late November orDecember, 1948.LTC Mehl had two loves – the Army and horses (in thatorder). In those days most officers, especially cavalryofficers owned their own horses and played polo. Young CPT Mehl was anexceptionally good polo player and was given the captaincy of the division poloteam. He also formed up a polo team for the 545th MP Company as there wereseveral good horsemen in the unit at the time and they played against other unitsfrom 1948 until the division was sent off to the Korean War.Young CPT Mehl could be seen almost every morning riding his horse aroundpost and often rode with MG Chase who also rode his horse each day. One ofthe members of the 545thwas quite an artist and drewa sketch of CPT Mehl in his“Pinks”Early in 1950, LTCMehl took the 545th MPCompany to Korea for theKorean War and once againthe 545th MP Companyattained several firsts.Young CPT Mehl was inthe lead jeep of the flyingcolumn that captured thecapitol of North Korea andhe established a procedurethat has been maintainedever since in the 1st CavalryDivision. In those days the545th was not authorized atruck and very few jeeps, soCPT Mehl hitched trailersto every jeep the unit hadCPT Mehl (photo left) with his friendsfrom the 7th Cav at Camp Drake1948CPT Mehl (photo far right) in the 545th Dayroom with the Div CG, PM, Army Chief of Staffand 1SG Brown 1949.and filled them with 545th MPs. Atevery intersection along the way hedropped of one MP and told themthey were to man this TCP untilrelieved personally by him or 1SGBrown or until killed and to keep all1st Cavalry Division units movingnorth towards the capitol of NorthKorea. History tells us that the 1CDdid in fact take the capitol and werethe first unit to enter that city.The 545th MP Company also hada POW Collection team that wasalso devised and implemented byCPT Mehl. In those days there wasnot much guidance from DA on howto handle this problem and it was abig one for the 1st Cavalry Divisiononce the Chinese Communists gotinvolved and sent hordes of soldiersin human wave attacks. Thanks tothe planning of LTC Mehl this washandled successfully and without anystrain on the division line units.Once the Chinese troops started to push the allied forces back south, the 545thonce again set up their TCPs and assisted not only the 1st Cavalry Divisiontroops but other Army units as well as Marine units to pull back south. It was acase of no other division MP units anywhere to be seen on any of the roads, butCPT Mehl and his MPs were everywhere and worked tirelessly to insure steadyand orderly troop movement on the roads headed south.The 545th MP Company also had a company of Greek MPs attached to itat this time and they were of great assistance as the AO of the 1CD was quiteCPT Mehl giving instruction to Japanese policelarge and even coveredareas where other unitshad bugged out. Forits heroic activity atthis time the 545th MPCompany was awardedthe Greek Gold BraveryMedal by the King ofGreece.Once hostilitiescalmed down a bit, theGreek Army challengedthe 1st Cavalry Divisionto a Polo match. Sincethe 1CD had left alltheir horses back atCamp Drake, the Greeksoffered the Cav PoloTeam the use of some oftheirs. CPT Mehl drewofficers at Camp Drake 1949.a horse “with a mean eye” and it threw him during the Polo Match and he brokehis back and was evacuated to Walter Reed where he spent many months intraction and therapy. The 1st Cav won the match with LTC Mehl making thelast and winning point before being thrown from his horse.LTC Mehl was the first fieldgrade officer to join the 545thMP Company Association andwas very instrumental in helpingus with the collection of ourunit history. He was also ourfirst Association Commandant.He will be remembered bymany who served with him aswell as a large number of ourassociation members who knewhim as our commandant. Ourcondolences and prayers go outto his wife and daughter fromall of the veterans of the 545thMP Company.On a lighter note, ourChristmas Care Packageprogram was a great successand I would personally like toCPT Mehl on horse.thank all of the 545th MP Company veterans who have contributed to this effort.The association has received many letters, e-mails and cards from our deployedbrothers and sisters who have thanked us for remembering them during theholidays.The newly reactivated 545th MP Company in Alaska with the Arctic MPBattalion is almost up to strength now and has drawn weapons and vehiclesand has already conducted their first FTX as well as weapons, CBR, firstaid and map training. Their new commander MAJ Brian Sullivan and 1SGLavander Wilkerson are putting them through their paces in preparation for theirdeployment in June of 2009.This legendary Cavalry MP Company lives on and will continue to makehistory as in days gone by. Although no longer with the 1st Cavalry Divisionit is still the First Teams Finest and will carry on the traditions of the CavalryMilitary Police.I hope you enjoyed this column as much as I did writing it and I hope to seeyou all again in the next issue of the Saber.Kenneth White3834 Inverness Rd.Fairfax, VA 22033-4602(703) 966-8079Fellow LRRP/Rangers:You may remember from the September/October, 2008 edition of SABER, thestory of the two helicopter pilots from A Troop 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry whowere shot down and killed west of Khe Sanh on the South Vietnam - Laotianborder on May 3, 1968.The pilots, CWO Bobby L. McKain of Garden City, Kansas, and WO ArthurF. Chaney of Vienna, Virginia, were MIA until recently when their remains wereidentified by Defense Department anthropologists through forensic investigationsand returned to their families.The Pentagon’s account of this incident said that they were providing an escortfor a reconnaissance team when they were hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. As itturns out, it was an aerial reconnaissance team from the 1st/9th Cav consistingof two observation helicopters and not a long range reconnaissance team thatthey were escorting. Members of the 1-9th Cavalry plan to provide details ofthis incident in a future edition of SABER.You may also remember from the September/October edition, the story of thenine-man U.S. Special Forces reconnaissance team, known as Recon Team (RT)Alabama, that was inserted on the afternoon of May 3, 1968 into extreme easternLaos some 20 miles directly south of where the 1-9th Cav story was unfolding.The RT was on a mission to collect intelligence on an area thought to be concealingthe headquarters of the NVA forces that fled the A Shau Valley to avoid the 1stCavalry Division that was sweeping the valley to rid it of NVA base camps andstaging areas. It was operating under orders from the Military Assistance Command,Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). It consistedof three Americans and six Nung tribesmen. The Nungs were Vietnamese-bornChinese mercenaries who were recruited by the Special Forces from Cholon, theChinese section of Saigon.Eight of the nine members of this team were killed on this mission. The team’smedic and RTO, PFC Paul C King Jr., is from my hometown of Waltham, Massachusetts.His body, along with those of five of the Nung tribesman, was neverrecovered. King, who had just turned 19 years old when he was killed, is amongnearly 600 Americans who are unaccounted for in Laos.