To: Former Military Chick
The pic of the building you describe as "the other side of the sunroom building" was known as South gate. I entered thru south gate as a new inmate and left through south gate when released. Visitation was also held in a room off of south gate and all visitors entered and exited through south gate.
The "sunroom". I have to tell you that I can't recall if that was there when I was or not. I know that when the guard changes occurred, they came and left through south gate also. There was alot of traffic at south gate and it was controlled tightly. My guess as to the "sunroom" is that it served as a sally port and nothing more. Also, after visitation, inmates had to wait at south gate until count cleared. South gate was a critical control point that regulated who left and who entered the prison grounds at that gate.
The building you describe as Medical and Dental services was a minimum custody domicile called B-5. Sick call and the dentist was in the basement of this building under the stairs to the main entrance which housed minimum custody inmates on three floors. This building is inside the walls but was for minimum custody inmates, however as min custody they were eligible to work outside the walls and many did. This is also the building where the German POW's were hanged in the elevator shaft.
The barbed wire at the top of the staircase was to prevent inmates from climbing to the roof as one did before it was put there and escaped. I can't recall if it was Grandstaff or Yarbrough and Davis that escaped this way. I think Grandstaff. I think this stairway was accessible from the education building where they offered classes.
The "other entrance" you refer to was West gate. It was where inmates on outside work details exited the prison grounds and returned through after work. It is where most inmates who arrived at the DB as new inmates entered through. It was different from South gate in that it had a HUGE gate that opened up and vehicles could enter and exit the prison grounds. I think the wall at west gate was 40 feet high.
If you can find pics of aerial views of USDB I can point out a little known fact. The "castle" had a flag pole in front with a cement walkway to the entrance in front and it looped around to another entrance adjacent to the front administrative entrance. From the seven-step room on the top floor you had a perfect view of this flag pole and walkway. It was inmates who constructed it and from above you can clearly see the hammer and sickle logo of the former USSR. The walkways were the sickle and the handle to the hammer while the concrete slab where the flag pole stood served as the hammer head.
I'll look at the photos some more this weekend and see what else I can add. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer those as well.
To: exDBinmate
Three years is a rather short stay there. You mind me asking how you got your tail in that crack?
107 posted on
07/29/2005 10:36:42 PM PDT by
bad company
(Sam Brownback '08)
To: Former Military Chick; exDBinmate; All
Bump for interesting history and perspectives.
160 posted on
06/07/2006 2:13:51 PM PDT by
dighton
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