Talk:Terminal Island

Prison Riot, Terminal Island, California

As a former resident of Terminal Island, I would like to relate to you an actual event that was witnessed by myself and about one thousand other inmates who were there on that very scary weekend on the day we were supposed to have pork chops for lunch.

I won't get into the why this happened, but I will tell you a story about the mousey correctional officer who saved the lives of about seventy-five black inmates. This Officer is one of the bravest men I have ever met. The race war was between two factions, one was the latino gangs, the other was the black gangs.

On Sunday there was a lot of tension at the prison. The inmates knew what was gonna go down. The Officers had no idea what was gonna happen. This is the way life is in prison: the officers control the doors, the inmates control the population. and it will always be this way.

The chow hall was just about full. There was about maybe 75-80 black inmates in their section of the chow hall; on the other side were the latinos. To the officers, everything seemed normal, to the inmates however it was a different story. I was working the chow hall bussing tables, my normal duties. but even I could see that this shit was gonna hit the fan. The thought of finding a safe place to hide never occurred to me as this is a place where the inmates are convicted criminals, just as I was. There is no safe place in prison ever...

The chow hall was filled with about 200 inmates, unicor was just released, and there were about 500-600 unmates in the yard. and how the tower officers never saw it is way beyond me, but there was separation going on in the yard... a group here and a group there. My God it was plain as day..!!!!lalalalalala

Sure enough, it started at the chow hall exit doors. a fight between a black inmate and a latino. as I looked that direction, I saw that every head was turned in the same direction that I was looking. then suddenly like a crack of lightning and the separation of the Red Sea by god... the chow hall split down the middle!!! with the blacks on one side and the latinos on the other. Both groups had their agitators in their groups yelling at each other.. I looked at where the door was where the officers ate, and I saw this little officer trying to put the key into the doorknob. it took him a bit longer than normal but when the door opened about 6-7 officers ran into the little dining room and to safety..

Who was left with all this violence was this little mousey correctional officer named Merserve. he was about 5 and a half feet tall and made of bricks!!

Mr. merserve ran in between the two groups and all by himself, began to order the armed inmates to drop their weapons, which were broken broomsticks and smashed napkin holders, pretty sharp those things can get. One latino inmate challenged Mr. Merserve and made the inmate disarm and back down. This tough little officer kept control of the inmates for about 30 minutes until help arrived. back and forth, Mr. Meserve patrolled the open space that separated the inmates, "DROP THAT WEAPON!!, GET BACK!" he yelled. Just one man was in between those inmates who were at war with each other. In my book this is a man above all others. This is a true story. I was there at Terminal Island.

I wrote a letter to the Warden trying to let him know what this brave officer did, but the letter was thrown out by my unit manager. I later asked Mr. Meserve if he got a letter of recognition or something but he said no he did not. What a shame this man saved a lot of people and got no recognition. I did personally thank Mr. Merserve because he also saved my life that day.

There is a lot more I could tell ya, but what's the point so as long as there are prisons, there will be riots. But no matter where a person may be at a time, there may be a person who is willing to die for people, even if they are inmates.

Mr. Meserve, I would like to personally thank you for that day. You are a man above men!!!

Sincerely M. Garcia 36174-048, Terminal Island, California 2002-2004

A Response

This is a very good story well told. It's unfortunate that Mr Garcia's unit manager threw the letter out.

I have taken the liberty of fixing some minor spelling & punctuation errors in the original text.

If Mr Garcia ever gets a chance, he should share his story with https://storycorps.org/

77th Trombone (talk) 17:00, 15 August 2025 (UTC)

Demographics

Jeohnny (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) added the following to the Terminal Island article:

Demographics:

The population of Terminal Island (as of 2006)was 1,500 people. The racial background of Terminal Island is 32.01% White, 23.92% Black, 1.39% American Indian & Alaska Native alone, 2.79% Asian, 0.84% Native Hawaiin & other Pacific Islander, 21.06% some other race alone, 4.11% two or more races, and 37.94% Hispanic or Latino.

Since I could find no demographics info from the US Census factfinder website, and since 1,500 people seems highly unlikely for an industrial area, I've deleted the demographics section from the article. Besides, the number don't add up. ^BlankVerse 14:42, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

I forgot about Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, but that articles says that there are less than 1,200 inmates. ^BlankVerse 11:37, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Question:

Question: Which bridge is the site of the finale of the 1986 movie "52 Pickup"?Maccb (talk) 03:31, 14 June 2011 (UTC)

monstrous spruce goose

I replaced the word "monstrous" because the plane was really, really big. From the OED: 5a. Of unnaturally or extraordinarily large dimensions; gigantic, immense, enormous. The extraordinary bigness of the airplane is attested to in the source that the sentence is cited to.— alf laylah wa laylah (talk) 03:32, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Battle of Los Angeles

Hello, my name is Danny Fujikawa, grandson of Dr. Yoshihiko Fred Fujikawa and Alice May Fujikawa, nee Aoki, who were nisei living on terminal island when world war II went down. I find it important to correct and i hope the editors are able to do so, the fact that they were ordered to evacuate 48 hrs directly after the so-called "battle of los angeles" of feb 25th, 1942; the most notorious/mysterious UFO case in los angeles' history. it's def an interesting as well as important fact that should be addressed/fixed in this matter. My grandparents heard the ruckus in the wee hours of the 25th, went outside and witnessed this ghastly ordeal! this statement is incorrect: "Immediately after the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, the rest of the inhabitants were given 48 hours to evacuate their homes."

1. interview with Dr. Y. Fred Fujikawa: http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-20/local/me-208_1_fujikawa

2. http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Terminal_Island,_California/

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles

Peace

Danny — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.13.227.53 (talk) 07:55, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Government

Terminal Island is located in Council District 15 of the City of Los Angeles. Terminal Island is located within the boundaries of the Wilmington Neighborhood Council Federal Correction Institute (FCI)Federal Correction Instituteis located on Terminal Island — Preceding unsigned comment added by Harbortown90744 (talk • contribs) 03:15, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Fall 2024 HIST 401

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 29 August 2024 and 19 December 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Maxyman10000 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Maxyman10000 (talk) 01:52, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

Isla Raza de Buena Gente

How does this translate into English? My spanish is week, but I expect it should translate as Island of the Race of Good People. In conventional Spanish however, that Spansh should be Isla de la Raza de Buena Gente.

77th Trombone (talk) 17:06, 15 August 2025 (UTC)