Long Binh Jail (commonly called LBJ, the "LBJ Ranch", or Long Binh Stockade) was a U.S. military
stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall.
Etymology
''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...
located at
Long Binh Post
Long Binh Post (''Tổng kho Long Bình'') is a former U.S. Army base located in Long Bình, Đồng Nai between Biên Hòa and Saigon, Vietnam. The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for Unit ...
, in
Đồng Nai Province,
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. 90% of the prisoners in the jail were African Americans. The handshake known as the "
dap
DAP or Dap may refer to:
Science
* DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death
* Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound
* Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine
* Diamin ...
" was created here.
History and operation
U.S Army, Vietnam, Installation Stockade (USARVIS), more commonly known as Long Binh Jail, was established in the summer of 1966 by the U.S. Army as a temporary stockade designed to hold about four hundred prisoners, located on
Long Binh Post
Long Binh Post (''Tổng kho Long Bình'') is a former U.S. Army base located in Long Bình, Đồng Nai between Biên Hòa and Saigon, Vietnam. The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for Unit ...
approximately 20 kilometers northeast of
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
.
It replaced a stockade that held about 200 prisoners located at Pershing Field,
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
Tan Son Nhut Air Base ( vi, Căn cứ không quân Tân Sơn Nhứt) (1955–1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility. It was located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base durin ...
at Saigon. Prisoners were separated by the seriousness of the charges or conviction against them and housed in tents with wooden floors. There were minimum, medium and maximum security areas for the prisoners as well as a mess hall, work areas and an administrative building. Maximum security prisoners were housed individually in five foot by 7 foot sheet metal and wood boxes or in
CONEX container
The CONEX box (Container, express) was a type of cargo container developed during the Korean War that was used to transport and store supplies during the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was reinvented by Malcom McLean to form the standard Intermodal ...
s measuring 6 foot by nine foot.
[ When the stockade opened in 1966, the tents used in the minimum and medium security areas were designed to hold about eight men.
By August 1968 each contained fourteen men. It was estimated it would take about 280 officers and men to adequately control the stockade, but by August 1968 there were only ninety assigned. Men committing felonies requiring sentences of less than one year were assigned to LBJ for confinement, with the sentence considered "bad time" not applied towards their assigned 365-day tour in Vietnam, as well as their enlistment contract.][ LBJ also served as a holding facility for more serious crimes requiring confinement in the ]United States Disciplinary Barracks
The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) colloquially known as Leavenworth, is a military correctional facility located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas.
It is one of three major prisons built on Fort Leavenwo ...
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...
.[ Others confined at LBJ included those awaiting trial as well as those who had served their sentence and awaiting being returned to their assigned unit. Often these were not wanted by their old unit, which would not issue orders for their transfer out of the stockade.][ The facility was closed in 1972 and the remaining prisoners and guards were assigned to the original stockade area at Pershing Field. Long Binh Jail was turned over to the South Vietnamese government on March 29, 1973, as the last combat troops departed Vietnam.]
1968 Riot
After being called a slur by a white soldier, Gary Payton, an African-American enlisted in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, abandoned his post in Vietnam. He was convicted for going AWOL
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...
and was sentenced to six months in the jail. He was given two 15 minute breaks from his small cell, and survived by eating lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...
rolled up in water. He was given the job of driving a truck outside of the stockade and burning the camp's feces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
with kerosene. Soon, a group of inmates convinced him to bring an extra can of kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
back into the camp every other night.
On the night of August 29, 1968, a group of African American inmates approached the administration building at 11:45 p.m. and attacked the guards. Chaos erupted as other inmates joined the riot. They began to set fire to buildings using the kerosene provided by Payton, burning the mess hall
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
, the barber shop, latrine
A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground (pit latrine), or m ...
, administration, and finance buildings. About 200 inmates took part in destroying the camp. The rioters assaulted white inmates as well as guards with impromptu weapons. Despite the violence, only four inmates escaped and one prisoner was killed. The next day, members of the 720th Military Police Battalion arrived. The MPs surrounded the camp and set up a perimeter at the gate. The riot ended on September 7, leaving 52 inmates and 63 MPs injured. Lieutenant Colonel Vern Johnson, the installation commander, never recovered from the beating he received from the prisoners and was eventually medically retired from the Army. The prisoners were moved to an area outside LBJ surrounded by barbed wire. Members of the 720th Military Police Battalion communication detachment were sent to rewire the prison. The sole fatality was Private Edward Haskett of St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
, who was beaten to death by the rioters with a shovel.
After the riot, the facility was rebuilt as a modern correctional institute and guards received appropriate training, social services were upgraded to include better mess facilities, and punishments became less arbitrary and more rational.
See also
* ''Sir! No Sir!
''Sir! No Sir!'' is a 2005 documentary by Displaced Films about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The film was produced, directed, and written by David Zeiger. The film had a theatr ...
'', 2005 documentary film on enlisted opposition to Vietnam War.
References
External links
Investigations
* Currey, Cecil Barr (2001). ''Long Binh Jail: An Oral History of Vietnam's Notorious U. S. Military Prison''. Potomac Books. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Binh Jail
Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam
Defunct prisons in Vietnam
Military prisons
1968 in Vietnam
Buildings and structures in Đồng Nai province