Battalion Time Line of the POW Mission
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
This Page Last Updated 27 October 2008
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     Although the POW mission of the 720th MP Battalion was a major function during it's service in Vietnam this time line has been limited to only specific incident and events.
18th Bde.
89th GP
720th
     The daily routine of POW log entrees have been left out of this tim e line for obvious reasons, and only those events involving important mission assignments, unusual incidents, personal stories and reflections of the MPs are listed.  The daily activities can be found in the Battalion History Time Line of the Vietnam War, 10 October 1966 through 13 August 1972.
1966

        The 93rd Evacuation Hospital Long Binh Post was already in operational status when the Battalion arrived for duty in Vietnam.

        At first the POW missions were rotated between all three of the Battalion organic companies, and when manpower required combined teams from two or three of the organic companies (A,B & C) were utilized.

January Construction of the Bien Hoa (Ho Nai) POW Camp for III Corps was started.

May The Bien Hoa (Ho Nai) POW Camp was opened to accept enemy POWs.
1967

January The 24th Evacuation Hospital on Long Binh Post became operational and began accepting patients and enemy POWs.

August-October A Company assumed the responsibility from C Company for supervision of Prisoners of War (POW) being treated in United States Medical Facilities on Long Binh Post. During that time period an average of sixty POW's were guarded daily by twenty-one MP’s.
1968

31 January With the onset of the Communist New Years Tet Offensive the enemy POW counts at the Long Binh Post military hospitals jumped dramatically. By March the daily count was above one-hundred and seventy.

June With the responsibility of Operation STABILIZE being assigned to B Company, the POW transport and hospital guard mission would be rotated between A and C Company.

August to October A total of seven-hundred and twelve enemy POW's were transported by A Company Escort Teams.
1969

March It is unknown when the 50th Medical Company (Clearing) stood down under the Vietnamization program.

13 June A/SGT [Acting Sergeant] Robert L. Darlington, is advised by SP/4 Billy E. Eller, both with the C Company POW Hospital Guard Detail at the 74th Field Hospital, that two Army of The Republic of Vietnam [ARVN] Intelligence interrogators were illegally using a field phone to interrogate a Viet Cong prisoner in a ward at the hospital compound.

        SGT Darlington took immediate action, confiscated the field phone, removed the two ARVN interrogators from the compound. The hospital commander was notified and an investigation initiated for violations of the rules of the Geneva Convention on treatment of POWs. Other C Company personnel mentioned in the report were, CPT Richard R. Schuman, 1LT Herbert W. Bradley, III, SP/4 Billy E. Eller.
1970

February SP/4 Richard L. Jess, C Company, reported that when he was transfered to HHD only two of the original six Quonset huts (wards) at the POW Hospital Compound (74th Field Hospital) were still holding patients the others were used as storage for the 24th Evacuation Hospital.

August to October The 24th Evacuation Hospital POW Ward was closed and C Company reduced its guard commitment to an “as needed” basis depending on infrequent reception of POWs by Dust Off helicopters.

September When B Company was moved to IV Corps, each B Company detachment would provide MPs for POW guard duty at their local military hospitals when needed.
1971

January Information from the 24th Evacuation Hospital website states that the POW medical compound (74th Field Hospital) was closed and it was converted into temporary quarters for newly arrived enlisted men serving at the 24th.

15 April The 93rd Evacuation Hospital ceased patient care and closed.
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