James Dykstra

Jim Dykstra was born in Grand Rapids in 1947 and was attending Grand Rapids Junior College when he was drafted for military service in 1967. Jim was sent to Military Police School in Georgia, and then guarded a proving ground in New Mexico. Jim was then sent to Vietnam where he served as a guard at the military prison in Long Binh where convicted U.S. servicemen were kept. There had been a major race riot there prior to his arrival, after which a group of rebellious prisoners controlled one part of the compound. A new commander arrived, and organized an effort to get the rebels under control, an action which Jim took part in. Because he had a little more education than the other guards, he was put in charge of the maximum security section of the prison, but he eventually changed jobs and took over the road patrol outside of the prison.