Comments on: Long Binh Jail Riot During the Vietnam War

By: jae hall

jae hall — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:32:52 +0000

If Black soldiers weren't discriminated against while at LBJ. Well. They were discriminated against before they entered the armed services, and during their active duty, and during their courtmarshals, on their way to LBJ. Why would their experience be any different at LBJ?

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 04:19:02 +0000

Hey! I was with the 74th Field Hospital from around Sept. 68 – June 69 at Long Binh worked in the Operating Room. The unit was a Reserve Unit activated in the Spring of 68. I received order at Ft. Knox Kentucky and assigned to the unit at Fort Lee Virginia after the unit was activated from Reserve status. Lots of RA's & US's were used to feel the numerous open slots the unit had when activated.

By: Scott Riley Aco.1/5 Cav

Scott Riley Aco.1/5 Cav — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 01:44:58 +0000

I was in the box the night of the riot on Aug. 29th 1968.I saw the war from both sides, and I've yet to hear anyone address the reason for so much anger between the races in Vietnam. 'Nam mirrored the mood of the states. when the hippie counter culture was happening back here we all black, white , hispanic fought bled and died together. we shared our food , our dreams and our dope , marijuana. Two of the biggest changes came when Dr. Martin Luther King was killed and the the marketing of #4 Heroin to the troops. From that point on in my humble estimation the war was lost.Let's face it guy's we grunts, ground pounders, marines , sailors etc. had for many years carried the brunt of this badly led war.

By: steve dennis

steve dennis — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 20:44:43 +0000

Much of what has been said in or printed in these books does not come close to the truth. During the riot there was very little interaction between prisoners and the guards,most were from the 557th.We mainly tried to move the minimum and medium security that were not part of the riot out of harms way.
Two encounters did occur however,when a prisoner used a bunk adapter and put it to the head of the C.O. of the 557 and made off with his 45.Then there was a real reason to move against a prisoner.He was subdued and apprehended in a bunker.Outside of that there was very little physical action taken against the prisoners.

By: Major John Baldwin, MD

Major John Baldwin, MD — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:52:30 +0000

I recall that incident as all surgeons at the 24th Evac were working for 12+ hours, and every corpsman also. The most amazing part of our work was sewing up large scalp gashes which bled profusely. Every person, right down to those OR Corpsmen washed heads, then shaved them to see the wounds, then injected local anesthetic and started sewing. I remember telling the boys, "Keep the stitches big and cut them long, as God only knows when and who will be taking them out."

By: Bob Munshower

Bob Munshower — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:49:08 +0000

Dear Major Baldwin, with all due respect, I wish you had taken time to walk the 3 or 4 blocks from the Evac and had taken a chance on watching what really happened. Obviously you were also qualified as a medical examiner and was able to deduce that the head injuries delivered by either a nightstick of about 1 1/2 inches diameter and those of a bunk adapter, also about an inch and a half in diameter were identical but could only have come from the nightstick. We were briefed and warned about the use of excessive force and had been told we would be prosecuted under the UCMJ if it was found that we had employed such force. In fact, many of us were interviewed at the Provost Marshall's office, and some of us were under oath when we did. I did not witness a single prisoner being beaten with a nightstick or a rifle butt, and if you had read what has been written by those of us in the forefront of the melee, you would see that little interaction between us and the prisoners took place because the whole idea had been to segregate the docile prisoners from the rascist criminals and agitators. We were there to reclaim ground that had been ceded to the criminals over the past several days.

By: Bob Munshower

Bob Munshower — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:31:52 +0000

Mr. Jones, in regards to your comments about men being incarcerated for refusing to get a haircut, simply rings hollow or smacks of the legends and myths that have arisen from the Long Binh Jail riot. The majority of prisoners in the minimum and medium security sections of LBJ were there for refusing to go to the field, AWOL more than 60 days or for assault, theft or direct and serious violations of the UCMJ such as intentionally wounding themselves or deliberately becoming infected with any numbers of maladies and diseases. In an attempt to avoid going in the field. Refusing to get a haircut and similar childish crap was dealt with at the company level with an Article 15. What I found while working my rotation at LBJ was that the prisoners usually had a long rapsheet with more than a few offenses but always used the "haircut" or "rascism" excuses to rail against their confinement. Many MP's assigned to the 615th, 557th, and 212th MP companies may remember the night time "sweeps" we made through Tam Hiep, Tan Mai, Ho Nai and Cogido villages picking up GIs who had been missing from their units for up to 6 months and living with Vietnamese and working as pimps and drug dealers. The book about the LBJ riot was typical of the bull spewed by those with a left wing agenda much like the one we see everyday on television.

By: frank moultrie

frank moultrie — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:06:37 +0000

I was with the 284th mp co. and worked inside LBJ as a supply clerk from dec `68 to oct `69. I am Black and was eventually barred from LBJ for "fratinizing" with prisoners.

By: Chico Caldera

Chico Caldera — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:32:48 +0000

I was stationd at Long Binh in june 1972 and worked in the shop plt, I remember the day i got there the Plt Sgt told me to find a room in the Shop Plt Barracks, so I did on the botton floor in the rear….Plt Sgt came looking for me and said where is your room, I said bottom floor in the rear. He quickly told me to move to the 2nd floor, and soon. A few days later some "brother" told me what was I doing in the "jungle", I asked him what did he mean " he said this floor is only for blacks" I said thats cool soon I will look like you, I am Mexican…..I guess they thought I was crazy or just plain stupid, I lived there until we stood down in Oct….

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:17:00 +0000

I got into with my first Sargent who didn't like me because I was from California and he was from Alabama so one night I had a few beers and we ran into each other and I beat him senseless needless to say I spent several months in LBJ this was the middle of 68, while I was there I got in to the work detail med security but we had a Black Guard who was scared shitless and would aim his shotgun at us constantly so I refused to go out and was put into Max where I finished my time I was called a chuck many times but I was big and from the 101st ( I would fight anyone) so they left me alone, those months did not count on my tour so I was in country for 1 1/2 years no big deal I ended staying in for 6 more years after that kind of vague memories now…