~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association Vietnam History Project ~
"A Small Lifeless Young Boy"
Tuesday ~ 14 October 1969

        It was around noon while my partner and I were on Highway patrol in the Thu Duc area. We had a gun jeep and a Canh Sat (Vietnamese National Policeman) riding with us when we were waived down by some Vietnamese civilians and told of someone apparently drowning in the village. We tried to radio for assistance but found that our radio was not working.

The Canh Sat directed us into the University Village area and a small body of water where several civilians were pulling a small lifeless young boy, about 6 or 7 years old, from the pond. Unable to call for an ambulance or reach anyone by radio it was immediately decided that we would transport the boy to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital on Long Binh Post, some 14 miles away. While my partner drove, the Canh Sat helped hold the boy from the front seat while I was holding him on my lap in the rear seat and administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The procedure was very difficult because of the constant bouncing and swerving of the jeep in our haste to get to the hospital. I remember the M-60 Machine gun ammo falling out of the box and landing on us.

As we arrived at the Thu Duc intersection, which was always very busy that time of day, we noticed a US military jeep with a radio. With our lights and siren going, we pulled up along side the jeep and either scared or irritated the occupants, a higher ranking field grade officer and his driver. I believe the officer was a Major or Lieutenant Colonel and he was quite adamant about waiving us off, and seemed rather irritated that we were stopping him. As I continued the mouth-to-mouth procedure, the officer quickly understood that we had an emergency situation and my partner and the Canh Sat asked for his help.

The officer was given our radio frequency and we asked that he contact our MP desk and advise them of our situation, and that our unit was in route to the hospital, and to call for an ambulance to meet us along the way. Although it seemed like forever, the ambulance and another MP patrol met us along the highway where we transferred the boy to them. At that time, the boy was still not breathing on his own but the medics knew what we were bringing and were ready with oxygen and the right equipment to handle the emergency. As the ambulance and their escort sped away, we just sat there along the road for a while wondering just what the hell had happened.

We then proceeded to have our radio replaced and returned to Thu Duc village to find the boys relatives only to find out that they had taken their own transportation to the Long Binh hospital. We confirmed this with our now working radio and continued our normal patrol.

A few hours later at the end of our shift, we stopped by the hospital just to check on the boy. The hospital staff had just done a shift change as well and we had a little trouble getting any information. Someone eventually told us that although not confirmed, they thought they had heard the boy was alright and had left with his family before the shift change.

Until a few weeks ago that letter of commendation had not been out of a box in 30-plus years. But you know, I thought of that little boy many times over those years, especially when my own boys were small and learning how to swim. I still wonder if he really turned out perfectly normal or just alive.

Reflections of, SGT William H. “Bill” Novosad, 615th MP Company, 95th MP Battalion, July 1969 to September 1970.
17 October 1969 PFC Novosad received a Letter of Commendation from LTC Frank W. Richnak, Commanding Officer, 95th MP Battalion, and a Certificate of Achievement from COL W. K. Wittwer, Commanding Officer 18th MP Brigade, for his life saving efforts that day.
 
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