DAY23
| DAY23 |
VIEW THUMBNAILS | DAY25 |
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This is one of the best days I spent in Vietnam. A tour bus came and picked us up very early. Our destination, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). What is the DMZ? Most people I talk to, including the local Vietnamese population, had no clue what the DMZ is or where it is located. The DMZ extends 5Km north and south of the Ben Hai river. This river being the former demarcation between the north and south partitions of Vietnam. The entire border, especially the southern DMZ areas, bore witness to much of the fighting during the Vietnam war. It fact, this area was somewhat of a staging area for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). A section of the Ho Chi Minh trail cut into the southern DMZ from Cambodia. I actually walked a portion of this trail today.
As we made our way slowly north on the tour bus from Hue, the driver repeatedly pressed his air horn to get others out of our way. We were unfortunate enough to select seats near the front and therefore couldn't get any sleep. That horn was so loud that I found myself covering my ears when he laid on it for seconds at a time. We stopped for breakfast and as we continued on a slight rain began to fall. The clouds were dark and the day resembled all of the previous days we spent in Hue. Our first stop was an old observation post used by the American forces perched high on a hill known as the rock pile. We observed the hill from a distance. We were told that it was chosen because it was the highest hill in the area and it was also impossible to climb. Our guide also pointed out the treeless landscape. She said that agent orange successfully eliminated all of the forest and vegitation in the area. To this day the trees have not grown back.
We next stopped at the Dakrong bridge overlooking the Dakrong river. This is where a branch of the Ho Chi Minh trail entered the landscape from Cambodia. The highlight of the day would be a visit to the Khe Son firebase. The current President at the time was Lindon Johnson and he was intent on saving the firebase from being overrun. He didn't want to have a repeat of Dien Bien Phu on his hands. The bloodiest and largest battle of the war was fought here. Approximately 500 US and 10,000 NVA soldiers died here. While standing in the center of the firebase it is difficult to picture anything once stood here. The only recognizable feature that remains today are portions of the long dirt runway. There were metal plates that once supported this runway but they have long since been carried away by local scrap metal hunters. A tiny museum told the North Vietnamese story of what happened here. I remember seeing a picture of an American soldier running while bent over with an artillery shell exploding in the background. The caption read something like: "The Americans are fleeing for their lives under the intense artillery barrage delivered from the People's Army of Vietnam". A collection of American weapons were stacked in the center of the museum for anyone who wanted to handle them. I picked up a 40mm gernade launcher and cracked it open. They were well engineered and this one opened up as if it were new. I probably could have placed a shell in it and fired it off. There was also an M16 and an M60 machine gun. I have already had my fill of these two weapons while in the Army and lacked any desire to play with them. The M16, however seemed to be the favorite of the other guests.
We backtracked toward the coast and continued north to the town of Vinh Moc. I was in for a surprise here. This coastal town was the home to an underground network of 2.8Km long tunnels. The average Vietnamese person could stand up straight while walking through these tunnels. They were used by the town's inhabitants during naval bombardments. With people in front of me and behind me, I scrunched down and walked through the dark labyrinth of passages. It was raining hard above us and the water flowed through the tunnels adding to the claustrophobia I was already beginning to feel. I handed my camera to one of the french tourists and stepped into a pitch black section of the cavern. I set the flash on high and assured him that it would come out ok. He took the picture and it came out quite well. We exited the tunnels on the beach and walked the long surface journey back to the bus in the heavy rain.
We headed south for Hue but had one last stop to make in Quang Tri. In the darkness and heavy rain a few brave tourists, including myself, explored the battle scarred shell of a church. This town was the scene of some heavy fighting and the church was left unrestored as a testiment to what happened here. There were bullet holes everywhere you looked. There was no roof. Only concrete walls with indentations left by bullets and shrapnel.
The ride home was long. The rain beat against the windshield and at one point the wipers stopped working. The crew pulled over and got them going again. That was a close one. There was no way we could drive in that rain without them. When we arrived back home we were beat. Our day lasted more than twelve hours.