time line

720th

Operation JUNCTION CITY
20 February to 23 April 1967
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
This Page Last Updated 8 March 2008

The operation, conducted in War Zone C, northern Tay Ninh Province, III Corps Tactical Zone, was the only airborne operation and largest search & destroy operationin the Vietnam War. It lasted from 22 February to 14 May 1967, and involved a total of twenty-two military battalions from the 1st, 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and 173 Airborne Brigade.

It was conducted in hopes of clearing the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF also known as the Viet Cong) units from the area of War Zone C, northeast of Saigon. Another goal of the operation was the possible capture or destruction of the PAVN/NLF Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN). The headquarters controlled all enemy activities south of the triborder region of Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam. The operation was considered largely successful by the U.S. command, although enemy units returned to the area once allied forces were withdrawn. COSVN itself withdrew to the safety of Cambodian territory, where it remained for the rest of the U.S. commitment to the Vietnam War.

Total U.S. casualties were listed at 283 Killed In Action, enemy losses were estimated at 2,728 Killed, 280 captured, 540 defectors to allied forces, 512 suspected enemy detainees, and 5,987 refugees evacuated.

The 720th MP Battalion, 18th MP Brigade committed one officer and twenty-four enlisted men in direct support of the 1st Infantry Division and two Officers and seventy-four Enlisted Men in direct support of the 25th Infantry Division in Operation Junction City during the period of 20 February to 23 April 1967.

The Military Police support consisted of traffic control, convoy escort and security, POW security, refugee control, and general discipline, law, and order functions. The 720th MP Battalion elements assigned to assist the 1st and 25th MP Companies were from A, B and C Company.