Video offers rare glimpse of infamous Vietnam prison

Long Binh Jail, or “LBJ,” was the U.S. Army’s primary detention facility in Vietnam. It held military prisoners on a short-term basis, as punishment for crimes such as going AWOL, theft, drug offenses, etc. But there were also a substantial number of murderers, rapists and violent offenders. Conditions were brutal. It was hot; overcrowded to about twice its intended capacity; full of racial tension, hard labor and physical abuse; with barely enough food to survive on. Jail is bad enough, but jail in Vietnam was a trip you did not want to take. Mostly kept out of the public’s eye, LBJ was well known among the troops. But it was an incident on Aug. 29, 1968, that earned it legendary status. That was the night of the “LBJ Insurrection,” when the prisoners rebelled against the treatment and conditions they faced. It was a full-scale riot. Prisoners burned and destroyed the compound. Inmates battled guards and each other. For a time, they took control of the facility. The LBJ Riot left 52 inmates and 63 Military Policemen injured. The LBJ Commander, savagely beaten by prisoners, lived but never recovered from his injuries. One of the prisoners, 19-year-old Private Edward Haskett, was beaten to death with a shovel. To this day, much of what went on at LBJ, and the riot itself, are unknown to the American public.

For more on the riot and its aftermath, click here.

To purchase a book about LBJ, click here.