Ho Chi Minh Trail

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a 12,000-mile network of jungle roads and trails paralleling the Annamite Cordillera used by the North Vietnamese to transport communications, supplies, and troops to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese began using the system in the late 1950s and quickly expanded and improved the trail's infrastructure in the 1960s as its use increased. A complex communication system arosewith underground barracks, repair shops, hospitals, and supply warehouses located at strategic points along the trail. With the trail's improvements, the duration of the trip was shortened from six months to one month, but the travelers still endured dangers such as malaria and wild animals.

It was imperative that the North Vietnamese control the vicinities of the trail, including sections in Laos. The Ho Chi Minh Trail entered Laos at Mu Gia Pass in Bolikhamxai province and traveled south through Attapu province, where the trail branched into Cambodia and South Vietnam. Lao cities located on the system include Pakxong, Salavan, Xekong, and Xepon.

U.S. military aircraft bombed the districts around the trail as well as where communists were active in Laos. The bombings escalated after 1964 when Lao prime minister Souvanna Phouma announced his approval for U.S. armed reconnaissance flights over Laos in Operation Steel Tiger. The United States also released defoliants to expose the trail and ground troops in an effort to deter the North Vietnamese. During the Johnson administration the number of bombs dropped increased from three hundred to nine hundred a day. Despite being round-the-clock over a period of years, the bombings failed to stop the North Vietnamese from using the trail.

A major defeat for the United States and South Vietnam was Operation Lam Son 719 in 1971. The target of the operation was Xepon, a major outpost for the communists where the trail diverged into three arteries. The target was never reached, and the South Vietnamese army retreated after suffering over five thousand casualties. The U.S. lost over a hundred aircraft in this failed attempt to shut down the trail.

The effects of the bombings are still felt in Laos. Two million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos during the war, making it the most heavily bombed nation per capita. Accidents involving unexploded ordnance (UXO) occur on average on a daily basis. Teams of UXO detection and demolition specialists continue to comb the countryside in an effort to rid the country of the deadly threats, but the people of Laos will feel the impact of the bombings for decades as more explosives are unearthed.

Nolan, Keith William. (1986) Into Laos: The Story of Dewey Canyon II/Lam Son 719; Vietnam 1971. Novato, CA: Presidio.

Prados, John. (1999) The Blood Road: Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Vietnam War. New York: Wiley.

Robbins, Christopher. (1987) The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos. New York: Crown.

This is the complete article, containing 492 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).