Long Binh
Encyclopedia
Long Binh is a ward, in District 9
District 9, Ho Chi Minh City
District 9 is an urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 166,680. The district covers an area of 114 km².-References:...

 of Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...

, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

.

Long Binh Post

During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, Long Binh Post was located near Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...

, Dong Nai province. Vietnam, 33km from Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh City). The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for United States Army Vietnam (USARV)
United States Army Vietnam
United States Army Vietnam was an corps-level support command of the United States Army in the Vietnam War. USARV was created on July 20, 1965 out of the U.S. Army Support Command, Vietnam.- Long Binh headquarters :...

. Long Binh base was not far from Bien Hoa Air Base
Bien Hoa Air Base
Bien Hoa Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about 20 miles from Saigon near the city of Bien Hoa within Dong Nai Province....

.

By mid-1967, almost all of U.S. Army Vietnam HQ Command (USARV), 1st Logistics Command, and many other Army units dispersed in Saigon were moved to Long Binh Post to resolve centralization, security, and troop billeting issues. Long Binh Post was a sprawling logistics facility and the largest U.S. Army base in Vietnam with over 50,000 women and men.

The 1st Aviation Brigade, II Field Force, the 93rd & 24th Evacuation Hospitals were located on Long Binh Post. Another unit there was the 90th Replacement Battalion, a first stop for newly arrived U.S. Army enlisted personnel, who were then permanently assigned to other units in Vietnam; especially in this context (but influenced by the widely used initials of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

), it was known as "Long Binh Junction".

The Viet Cong attacked the Long Binh ammo dump on March 28, 1967, destroying at least 15,000 high explosive 155 mm artillery projectiles.

Base facilities

Long Binh Post had dental clinics, large restaurants, snack bars, Post Exchanges
Base exchange
A Base Exchange is a type of retail store operating on United States military installations worldwide...

 , swimming pools, basketball & tennis courts, a golf driving range, University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...

 extension classes, a bowling alley, many nightclubs with live music (officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

, NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

, enlisted), a Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...

 branch, laundry services, and a massage parlor.
Long Binh Post had paved streets with such amenities as streetlights, hot showers & flush toilets, electric utilities, a fire department, and a dog catcher. Most of the steel office buildings were air conditioned.

Long Binh included the Long Binh Stockade
Long Binh Jail
Long Binh Jail was a U.S. military serviceman's prison located at Long Bình, in the province of Dong Nai, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The prison was established in 1966 and turned over to the South Vietnamese in 1973...

 (yet another LBJ, "Long Binh Jail"), a U.S. Army prison, from 1966 to 1973, when the facility was turned over to the South Vietnamese.

Present day

The area originally occupied by the Long Binh post is largely given over to industrial use and a shopping complex that includes a large Western-style Cora supermarket. When it opens in 2014, Line 1 of the HCMC Metro
Ho Chi Minh City Metro
The Ho Chi Minh City Metro is a proposed rapid transit network that will serve Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The network was first proposed in 2001 as part of a comprehensive public transport network plan including Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces, with the aim of avoiding the severe...

will have its terminus at Long Binh; work commenced in February 2008 on the Long Binh depot.
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