The 720th MP Battalion and the Long Binh Jail Riot
The Long Binh Jail riot was one of the most serious breakdowns of military discipline experienced by American forces during the Vietnam War. In late August 1968, prisoners at the United States military stockade at Long Binh challenged the authority of the guards, seized parts of the compound and set buildings alight. The disturbance continued for several days, exposing deep problems within the prison system and placing military police under exceptional pressure.
The 720th Military Police Battalion formed part of the security structure responsible for Long Binh and the surrounding American logistical complex. Its personnel performed routine duties familiar to military police everywhere—guarding installations, controlling movement, escorting prisoners and enforcing regulations—before being drawn into a volatile crisis shaped by overcrowding, racial conflict, combat stress and the wider disorder of 1968.
| Aspect | Long Binh Jail | 720th MP Battalion |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Long Binh military complex, north-east of Saigon | Based and employed in the Long Binh area |
| Function | Confinement of American military prisoners | Law enforcement, security, escorts and emergency response |
| Crisis | Riot beginning in late August 1968 | Perimeter control, containment and restoration of order |
| Main pressures | Overcrowding, poor conditions and prisoner tensions | Limited manpower, dangerous conditions and a rapidly changing situation |
| Historical importance | Revealed weaknesses in the US military justice system | Demonstrated the demanding role of military police in a combat zone |
Long Binh In The Vietnam War
Long Binh was a major American base complex roughly north-east of Saigon, near Bien Hoa. It contained warehouses, ammunition facilities, administrative headquarters, hospitals and communications installations. The concentration of supplies and personnel made it essential to American operations, while its size created a constant requirement for patrols, traffic control, security checks and prisoner movements.
The post was also a place where the war’s contradictions became visible. Combat units rotated through Vietnam, but the base continued operating according to schedules, paperwork and military regulations. Soldiers accused of offences could be confined there while their cases were investigated or processed. Some prisoners had arrived after serious misconduct in the field; others were serving sentences for offences that had little direct connection with combat.
The stockade was commonly known as “Long Binh Jail” or “LBJ”. It was not an ordinary civilian prison, and its population changed as men were transferred, released or returned to units. By 1968, however, it was under severe strain. Hundreds of prisoners were held in a facility designed for a different level of demand, with racial divisions and resentment adding to the pressure.
The 720th Military Police Battalion
The 720th MP Battalion was part of the American military police network in Vietnam. Its work extended well beyond guarding a single prison. Military police protected bases, investigated offences, managed traffic, escorted prisoners, supported courts and responded to disturbances. In a combat theatre, these duties could shift without warning from routine administration to armed emergency.
Personnel associated with the battalion operated in an environment where the distinction between rear area and battlefield was uncertain. Long Binh was a major target within the wider war, and security staff had to remain prepared for rocket attacks, sabotage, theft and violence among troops. Their responsibilities required knowledge of military law as well as practical skills in crowd control and installation defence.
The battalion’s connection with the stockade should therefore be understood as part of a wider command arrangement rather than as the responsibility of a single group of guards. Different military police units, prison staff and supporting commands had roles in the facility’s operation. During the riot, the 720th became closely associated with the effort to contain the disorder because its soldiers were among those available to establish security and restore control.
Conditions Inside Long Binh Jail
The stockade reflected wider weaknesses in the American military justice system during the later years of the war. Prisoners complained about overcrowding, inadequate facilities, inconsistent discipline and treatment by guards. Some men were being held in a system that was struggling to process a growing number of cases while maintaining order among prisoners with very different backgrounds and levels of risk.
Race was an important part of the story. The United States military in Vietnam was affected by the same racial conflict that shaped American society in 1968. Black soldiers faced discrimination and exclusion in civilian life and within the armed forces, while the prison population contained groups already hostile to one another. Tensions could be intensified by rumours, perceived unequal treatment and the use of force by guards.
It would be misleading to describe the riot as the product of one grievance. Immediate incidents helped trigger the confrontation, but the deeper causes included institutional neglect, accumulated anger and a prison design poorly suited to the population it held. The stockade was a controlled military environment that had lost much of its ability to control the people inside it.
The Riot Begins
The disturbance began on 29 August 1968. Accounts describe prisoners resisting the authority of the guards, breaking through controlled areas and starting fires. As the situation developed, sections of the stockade were taken over or rendered unusable. Smoke, damaged buildings and the movement of prisoners made it difficult for military police to distinguish between an organised revolt, individual acts of violence and attempts to escape.
The response had to balance two dangers. A rapid assault might restore control but produce large numbers of casualties in a crowded prison. Waiting too long could allow the riot to spread, destroy records and equipment, or enable prisoners to escape into the wider base. Military police therefore concentrated on isolating the facility, protecting the surrounding installation and preventing the disturbance from becoming a broader security failure.
The violence continued into early September. Fires damaged parts of the compound, and clashes produced deaths and injuries, although published accounts differ over precise figures and the circumstances of individual casualties. The eventual restoration of order came through a combination of containment, negotiation and the gradual exhaustion of the prisoners’ ability to maintain control.
A Crisis For Military Police
For the 720th MP Battalion, the riot was a test of skills that were rarely visible in official descriptions of combat. Military police had to hold a perimeter, manage armed personnel, protect prisoners from further violence and preserve enough authority to regain the compound. They also had to work in conditions where normal procedures could not be followed in a simple sequence.
The incident demonstrated that military police were exposed to serious danger even when they were not conducting infantry operations. A prison riot could involve improvised weapons, arson, barricades, assaults and attempts to exploit confusion. The soldiers responding to it had to make immediate decisions about force, access and custody while knowing that any action could later be scrutinised through investigations and military courts.
The crisis also exposed the limits of treating discipline as a matter of punishment alone. A stockade could confine men, but it could not automatically resolve the grievances, racial hostility and breakdown in trust that had accumulated inside it. The riot was therefore a policing emergency and an institutional warning. It showed that a military justice system required competent leadership, humane conditions and credible procedures if it was to retain legitimacy.
What Followed The Disturbance
After the riot, the condition of the stockade and the handling of prisoners received greater attention. Damaged areas had to be secured and repaired, prisoners had to be redistributed or processed, and commanders had to assess why control had failed. The episode became part of a wider examination of military prisons, racial discrimination and discipline during the final years of the Vietnam War.
The effects were not limited to Long Binh. The United States military was already confronting desertion, drug use, racial conflict, dissent and declining confidence in authority. Events at the stockade fitted into that broader pattern, although the jail had its own particular conditions. The riot showed how quickly a confined population could become a security threat when poor organisation and resentment met a wartime system under strain.
For former military police, memories of the event often sit alongside more routine duties: checking passes, directing convoys, escorting prisoners and standing guard through long nights. Those tasks rarely appear in popular accounts of the war, yet they were essential to the operation of every major base. The Long Binh riot gives those personnel a distinct place in the historical record.
Remembering Long Binh In Australia
Australian readers may approach this history through the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Vietnam veterans’ associations, family papers or collections of military books and photographs. In Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, veterans’ events and Anzac Day services often encourage public discussion of military experience, but the daily work of American military police can remain unfamiliar. The Long Binh story helps broaden attention beyond major battles and famous commanders.
The subject also appears in Australia’s second-hand military market. Specialist booksellers, militaria fairs and online sellers regularly offer Vietnam-era patches, field manuals, photographs and unit histories. Buyers should distinguish between documented material and later reproductions, and should treat personal photographs or letters with care. A caption identifying a soldier, date or location may be valuable evidence, but it can also be mistaken or incomplete.
Australian access to records is shaped by local law. The Archives Act 1983 governs the National Archives of Australia, while the Privacy Act 1988 affects the handling of personal information in many Australian contexts. Records relating to American personnel and the Long Binh stockade are more likely to be held in United States military collections, veterans’ papers or specialist archives, and access may depend on declassification, privacy restrictions and copyright.
A responsible memorial project should identify its sources, separate eyewitness recollection from later interpretation and avoid presenting itself as an official military authority. That distinction matters for an independent historical website using archival imagery and testimony. The 720th MP Battalion and the Long Binh Jail riot deserve remembrance because they reveal how military service could involve custody, law enforcement and moral pressure as intensely as patrols in the field.
