Long Bình Jail

Long Binh Jail (also called LBJ or the "LBJ Ranch" or Long Binh Stockade) was a U.S. military stockade located at Long Bình, in the province of Dong Nai, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was generally referred to as "Long Binh Jail", presumably favored over its formal name Long Binh Stockade for the sake of abbreviating it "LBJ" and thereby referring to then-president Lyndon B. Johnson.

History and operation
Long Binh Jail was established in 1966 by the US Army as a temporary stockade designed to hold about four hundred prisoners and was located on Long Binh Post approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Saigon. It replaced a stockade that held about 200 prisoners located at Pershing Field, Tan Son Nhut Air Base 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 containers 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; however, by August 1968 each contained fourteen men. It was estimated that 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" towards their assigned 365 day tour in Vietnam as well as their enlistment contract. LBJ served as a holding facility for more serious crimes requiring confinement in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Others confined at LBJ included those persons awaiting trial as well as those who had served their sentence and were awaiting parole back to their assigned unit. Often the latter were not wanted at their old unit so the unit did not issue orders for their transfer out of the stockade. The facility was turned over to the Vietnamese government in 1973.

1968 Riot
On the night of August 29, 1968, a group of black inmates approached the administration building at 11:45 p.m. and attacked the guards. From there, chaos erupted and other inmates joined the riot. These inmates began to set buildings on fire, burning the mess hall, barber shop, latrine, administration and finance buildings. About 200 inmates were involved in destroying the camp. The rioters beat white inmates and attacked guards. Despite the violence, only four inmates escaped the facility and one fatality was reported. The next day the 720th Military Police force responded. The force surrounded the camp and set up a perimeter at the gate. The riot finally ended on September 7, leaving 52 inmates and 63 MPs injured. The prisoners were moved to an area outside of LBJ which was surrounded by barbed wire. The members of the 720th MP Bn communication shops were sent in to rewire the prison. The riot led to the death of Private Edward Haskett of St. Petersburg, Florida, who was beaten to death with a shovel.

References cited

 * Investigations
 * Articles
 * Currey, Cecil Barr (2001). Long Binh Jail: An Oral History of Vietnam's Notorious U. S. Military Prison. Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-337-2.