Editors Note: Most of the more specific details of some of the events and missions carried out in this village have been moved into the chronology of the more comprehensive daily Battalion Timeline from September 1967 through July 1970. If you find a specific mission or incident that is not listed or linked, please notify the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

     Located in the north western portion of the 720th MP Battalion Tactical Area Of Responsibility (TAOR), An Hoa Hung was the largest of the four primary villages, and the hub of progressive economic, civic government and growth.

     The village was originally one of many within the vast Area of Operations of the 3rd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division (Camp Martin Cox - Bearcat) before being assigned to the Battalion in September 1967 under Operation STABILIZE. No evidence was found that the 9th ever established a permanent foot print during their operational control. At best the village Popular Forces platoons and the National Police were monitored and visited occasionally through the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) advisory program Team-95 headquartered in the City of Bien Hoa.

     It was bodered on the west by Long Binh Tan Village, and on the north by Highway-317 and the southern perimeter of Long Binh Post. To the south by the Ben Go River, and the Village of Long Hung. A steel bridge over the Bien Go connected the two village areas. The east side was bordered by forest and beyond that, the area known as the Finger of Land.

     Motorized transportation to and from Long Hung was readily accessible via a single lane dirt road connected to Highway 317 that looped in a U shape through the village along the buildings bordering the Rach Ben River then out to Highway 317 through the village of Long Bin Tan.

   There was also a large Buddhist Temple and monastery located in the northeast corner of the village. The interior of the temple was very ornate and beautifully maintained. The vast majority of the villagers were of the Buddhist faith with a minority of Catholics who attended services in the neighboring village of Long Bin Tan.

     With the South Vietnamese President being Catholic religious tensions between the Buddhists and Catholics existed at all levels of government, a leftover from the French Colonial era, and was evident throughout much of the country.

     Although it was frowned upon by Battalion, on occasions the ambush teams would,  with permission of the Buddhist's Priests, conduct searches of the Temple and grounds for VC contraband and activity and to familiarize new squad members of the interior of the temple and compound. It was suspected at the time they might have been assisting the local Viet Cong, however, there has yet to be any evidence uncovered of the local Buddhist within the Battalion TAOR taking an overt role in their support.

    As with the other outpost's, life at Outpost-3 was also Spartan, primarily due to its size. It was the smallest in size and had the smallest staff of the four Battalion outpost's within the TAOR.

     Since it was located at the entrance to the village just off of Highway-317, water and supplies and staff could be transported in daily and access to Long Binh Post was easy.

     The outpost was a single wood and brick structured building (for lack of a better description) about the size of a one car garage, but it did have a second floor observation area. The structure was covered in sandbags and barbed wire, and had a small perimeter and sandbag reinforced bunkers.

     Located on the northwest corner of the main entrance to the village from Highway 317, it was in view of the perimeter of Long Binh Post.

     From September 1967 to until the 26 June 1968 consolidation, the outpost was manned by MPs from C Company. The staff didn’t reside at the outpost on a full time basis and worked it in twelve hour shifts.

     Their primary function was a combined MP and National Police motorized patrol in the village and surrounding highways. The outpost at that time was staffed (per shift) by a squad of local Popular Forces troops.

     The primary focus of the local VC was their frequent attacks on the C Company armored gun jeeps that would patrol the village and transport the shift changes at night during 1967 and early 1968. The the attacks were small scale and the enemy came in from the wooded region to the east that bordered the Finger of Land. The goal of the attacks was to seize the jeeps M60 machine guns, small arms, and ammunition while they were at or approaching the outpost.

     Unfortunately the VC were successful in this endeavor on several occasions in the 1967 and early 1968 time period resulting in several wounded MPs. A fatal attack occurred in May 1968 when the patrol jeep was ambushed from the front yard of the Buddhist Temple, resulting in the death of one MP.

     The outpost was staffed by three MPs and a squad size element of the Popular Forces. A senior SP/4 or a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) was in command of the liaison MPs, when manpower permitted.

     The MP armament was similar to that at the other outpost, as was the arms used by the RF/PF troops. In addition to the radio, the outpost was also connected to a telephone land line permitting communication with Outpost 1, 2, and 4, Long Binh Post Tactical Operations Command (TOC) and later B Company TOC. The land line was much more reliable and less frequently interrupted by the VC due to it’s close proximity to Long Binh Post.

     Because of its physical size and small staff, the daily C Company routine at Outpost-3 was primarily supporting the local PF's with their vehicle inspections and ID card checks that were aimed at preventing enemy infiltration. The MPs also watched for unauthorized U.S. personnel, and errant convoy trucks looking to unload their supplies to the black marketer's in the village. Daytime duty there could be best described a similar to working a main gate on a busy military post.