Long Binh

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Long Binh is the site of a former U.S. Army Prison used during the Vietnam War. Located in southern Vietnam about 20 miles north of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), 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.

1 Long Binh Post
2 1968 Riot
3 Current Day
4 References

[edit] Long Binh Post

By mid-1967, almost all of the U.S. Army Vietnam HQ Command, 1st Logistics Command, and many other units had been moved from Saigon for centralization at Long Binh, a sprawling facility near Bien Hoa. Long Binh was the largest U.S.Army logistics base in Vietnam. The 1st Aviation Brigade & II Field Force had HQ on Long Binh. It also housed the Army's in-country detention center for Vietnam, commonly referred to as "Long Binh Jail" or "LBJ".

[edit] 1968 Riot

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On the night of August 29, 1968, a group of black inmates became high on marijuana. 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 720th Military 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.

[edit] Current 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 Bing will be the terminus of Line 1 of the HCMC Metro and work commenced in February 2008 on the Long Binh depot.^[1]