- Long Binh
Long Binh is the site of a former
U.S. Army Prison used during theVietnam War . Located in southern Vietnam about 20 miles north ofHo Chi Minh City (formerlySaigon ), Long Binh was the last stop for many of the army's most notorious offenders during the Vietnam War. Long Binh was a U.S. Army prison from 1966 to 1973, when the facility was turned over to the South Vietnamese.Long Binh Post
By mid-1967, almost all of the U.S. Army Vietnam HQ Command (USARV), 1st Logistics Command, and many other Army units dispersed all over Saigon were moved to Long Binh Post for centralization. Long Binh was a sprawling logistics facility and the largest U.S.Army base with over 50,000 troops..
The 1st Aviation Brigade & II Field Force had HQ on Long Binh. The 90th Replacement Battalion was a first stop for newly arrived U.S. Army enlisted personnel who were then permanently assigned to other units in country. The 93rd & 24th Evacuation Hospitals were on Long Binh Post.
Long Binh Post had dental clinics, large restaurants, snack bars, Post Exchanges (retail stores), swimming pools, basketball & tennis courts, University of Maryland extension classes , a bowling alley, many nightclubs with live music (Officer,NCO,enlisted), a Chase Manhattan Bank branch, laundry services, and a massage parlor.Long Binh Post had paved streets with streetlights, hot showers & flush toilets, electric utilities, a fire department, and even a dog catcher. Most of the steel office buildings were air conditioned.
Located on Long Binh Post was the U.S.Army's in-country detention center for Vietnam, commonly referred to as "Long Binh Jail" or "LBJ".
1968 Riot
On the night of
August 29 ,1968 , a group of black inmates got loaded on "weed". They 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 720thMilitary Police force responded. The force surrounded the camp and set up a perimeter at the gate. The riot finally ended on September 7th, leaving 52 inmates and 63 MPs injured.Present Day
The area originally occupied by the Long Binh post is now largely given over to Industrial use and a shopping complex that includes a large Western style Cora supermarket.When it opens in 2014 Long Binh will be the terminus of Line 1 of the HCMC Metro and work commenced in February 2008 on the Long Binh depot. [cite news | work=Thanh Nien | title=Vietnam’s first subway line ready to break ground | url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=35812 | author=Duc Trung | date = 2008-02-18]
References
* [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/vietnam/3033186.html Long Binh Jail Riot During the Vietnam War]
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900330,00.html
http://vietnamresearch.com/history/bases/lbinh.htmlhttp://www.loteco.com.vn/index.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
