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Rating: 
Summary: Long Binh Jail: An Oral History...
Review: From August, 1970 to September, 1971, I was a guard on the twelve-hour nightshift at Long Binh Jail, the U.S. Army's stockade in Vietnam. And so, I had a special interest in reading Cecil Barr Curry's "oral history" of "LBJ". It could be said, I suppose, that my direct involvement with the place prevented me from making an objective evaluation of Curry's book. But I believe it gave me an advantage in determining if Curry's account of this "notorious" episode in America's venture in Vietnam was accurate. And, for the most part, it was. I say "for the most part" because it is an oral history, told by prisoners and cadre. And, as Curry noted at the outset, memories tend to modify over the years into either exaggerations or self-serving alternations. I even found myself questioning my own memories of certain "incidents" and conditions there but, to be certain, Curry's account validated much of my experience. If I had any problem, it's that I wish he had used more "eye witnesses." In the eight-year history of Long Binh Jail, literally thousands passed through its Main Gate, one way or another, and seeing the same names used repeatedly for his sources was frustrating (or maybe I was just disappointed I hadn't been interviewed). Curry traced the development of both the physical structure and the human condition of LBJ. The first began as little more than a tented encampment on old tennis courts near Tan Son Nhut Airport near Saigon. It eventually grew into the maze of fence and concertina wire that I knew at the sprawling post at Long Binh. To be sure, there was more than one LBJ, and I turned out to one of the last to work at the "old" LBJ. The new and final version was begun soon after I arrived, and I observed its gradual construction during my entire tour (I also have photos). But, of course, the real story about the Army's stockade in Vietnam was the human factor, and Curry treated this directly and honestly. For most of its existence, the issue behind all the fence and wire was a black/white one, far more than a guard/prisoner one or even the political dynamics of the war itself. During my time there, the hatred seethed between the mostly black inmate population and the mostly white guard staff. For thirty years, I've had to keep in perspective those very emotions I came to feel there, although I can remember thinking during my more rational moments, when I wasn't worried about getting my throat slit or my head bashed in, what it must have been like to be black and in jail in Vietnam, exactly the insight that Curry mentions. I doubt very much if a whole book about Long Binh Jail would have been warranted if it hadn't been for the full-scale riot there in August of 1968. At the time, it was considered the worst prison riot in American penal history, and Curry gave a detailed account of the events leading up to, during, and its aftermath. The facility reconstructed on the ashes from the riot was the one I came to know. As a guard, most of my time was spent in Detained Compound, or pretrial. It consisted of three barracks, each surrounded by fence and wire and capable of holding up to forty prisoners. Very rarely were any of these buildings not filled to capacity. Half my night was inside one of these buildings, often alone but usually with one other guard. Guards didn't carry weapons inside the Stockade. The other half of the night I spent in a tower. It was a little disconcerting seeing the cover of Curry's book, because it shows a guard, with shotgun ready, in one of the towers definitely of the old jail. On occasion, however, I was pulled from Detain to assist in Maximum Compound, which was where LBJ acquired its other nickname, Silver City. It consisted of metal conex boxes, each with a side cut off and bars welded on, painted silver, and used as individual "cells." It was here that most of the prisoner "abuse" was alleged to have occurred. Curry dealt with these accusations by letting his interviewees do all the talking, and the result, if somewhat contradictory, corroborated my experience. If anything, any real abuse was conducted against the guards by the inmates, usually in attempts to subdue the inmate. I personally knew a guard who had been slashed across his throat by a coke can torn into two halves which produced sharp jagged edges. And I witnessed an attempted beating of a guard from my Detained watch tower one night. Breaking the grasp of his attackers, he escaped with a slight eye injury. The inmates involved then turned on a few of the white inmates and severely injured them. This was one of the "lessening incidents" that Curry said took place during the command of Lt. Col. Paul Grossheim, under whom I served and was promoted to sergeant. With fairness, however, I also witnessed prisoners who were left lying on their stomachs for many hours and with their wrists shackled to their ankles. The guards called this being kept in the "cradle." Within the context of all that the word "Vietnam" has come to signify for America, Long Binh Jail was but a blip on the screen. But if someone really wants to understand the Vietnam experience, other than a Hollywood version of it, what happened there should be included in the studies. And Cecil Barr Currey's, "Long Binh Jail: An Oral History of Vietnam's Notorious U.S. Military Prison," is a good place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Long Binh Jail: An Oral History...
Review: From August, 1970 to September, 1971, I was a guard on the twelve-hour nightshift at Long Binh Jail, the U.S. Army's stockade in Vietnam. And so, I had a special interest in reading Cecil Barr Curry's "oral history" of "LBJ". It could be said, I suppose, that my direct involvement with the place prevented me from making an objective evaluation of Curry's book. But I believe it gave me an advantage in determining if Curry's account of this "notorious" episode in America's venture in Vietnam was accurate. And, for the most part, it was. I say "for the most part" because it is an oral history, told by prisoners and cadre. And, as Curry noted at the outset, memories tend to modify over the years into either exaggerations or self-serving alternations. I even found myself questioning my own memories of certain "incidents" and conditions there but, to be certain, Curry's account validated much of my experience. If I had any problem, it's that I wish he had used more "eye witnesses." In the eight-year history of Long Binh Jail, literally thousands passed through its Main Gate, one way or another, and seeing the same names used repeatedly for his sources was frustrating (or maybe I was just disappointed I hadn't been interviewed). Curry traced the development of both the physical structure and the human condition of LBJ. The first began as little more than a tented encampment on old tennis courts near Tan Son Nhut Airport near Saigon. It eventually grew into the maze of fence and concertina wire that I knew at the sprawling post at Long Binh. To be sure, there was more than one LBJ, and I turned out to one of the last to work at the "old" LBJ. The new and final version was begun soon after I arrived, and I observed its gradual construction during my entire tour (I also have photos). But, of course, the real story about the Army's stockade in Vietnam was the human factor, and Curry treated this directly and honestly. For most of its existence, the issue behind all the fence and wire was a black/white one, far more than a guard/prisoner one or even the political dynamics of the war itself. During my time there, the hatred seethed between the mostly black inmate population and the mostly white guard staff. For thirty years, I've had to keep in perspective those very emotions I came to feel there, although I can remember thinking during my more rational moments, when I wasn't worried about getting my throat slit or my head bashed in, what it must have been like to be black and in jail in Vietnam, exactly the insight that Curry mentions. I doubt very much if a whole book about Long Binh Jail would have been warranted if it hadn't been for the full-scale riot there in August of 1968. At the time, it was considered the worst prison riot in American penal history, and Curry gave a detailed account of the events leading up to, during, and its aftermath. The facility reconstructed on the ashes from the riot was the one I came to know. As a guard, most of my time was spent in Detained Compound, or pretrial. It consisted of three barracks, each surrounded by fence and wire and capable of holding up to forty prisoners. Very rarely were any of these buildings not filled to capacity. Half my night was inside one of these buildings, often alone but usually with one other guard. Guards didn't carry weapons inside the Stockade. The other half of the night I spent in a tower. It was a little disconcerting seeing the cover of Curry's book, because it shows a guard, with shotgun ready, in one of the towers definitely of the old jail. On occasion, however, I was pulled from Detain to assist in Maximum Compound, which was where LBJ acquired its other nickname, Silver City. It consisted of metal conex boxes, each with a side cut off and bars welded on, painted silver, and used as individual "cells." It was here that most of the prisoner "abuse" was alleged to have occurred. Curry dealt with these accusations by letting his interviewees do all the talking, and the result, if somewhat contradictory, corroborated my experience. If anything, any real abuse was conducted against the guards by the inmates, usually in attempts to subdue the inmate. I personally knew a guard who had been slashed across his throat by a coke can torn into two halves which produced sharp jagged edges. And I witnessed an attempted beating of a guard from my Detained watch tower one night. Breaking the grasp of his attackers, he escaped with a slight eye injury. The inmates involved then turned on a few of the white inmates and severely injured them. This was one of the "lessening incidents" that Curry said took place during the command of Lt. Col. Paul Grossheim, under whom I served and was promoted to sergeant. With fairness, however, I also witnessed prisoners who were left lying on their stomachs for many hours and with their wrists shackled to their ankles. The guards called this being kept in the "cradle." Within the context of all that the word "Vietnam" has come to signify for America, Long Binh Jail was but a blip on the screen. But if someone really wants to understand the Vietnam experience, other than a Hollywood version of it, what happened there should be included in the studies. And Cecil Barr Currey's, "Long Binh Jail: An Oral History of Vietnam's Notorious U.S. Military Prison," is a good place to start.
Rating: 
Summary: LBJ - O.K.
Review: This book tends to becomes repetitous, but is still worth reading. The problem with LBJ wound up being not the stockade as much as the incompetency on the part of those that ran it.
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