Ho Chi Minh trail: Difference between revisions
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**45 way stations | **45 way stations | ||
*759th Transportation Group for sea-based supply | *759th Transportation Group for sea-based supply | ||
*959th Transportation for supply of the [[Pathet Lao]] | *959th Transportation Group for supply of the [[Pathet Lao]] | ||
*665th | *665th Transportation Group managing personnel movements to the South and evacuation of wounded to the North. | ||
==Routes== | ==Routes== | ||
Original planning was by engineer colonel Vo Bam. His initial plan started at the Mu Gia and Nape passes in the Annamite foothills within North vietnam, paralleled the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for 20 miles in [[Laos]], and turned into South Vietnam proper at the intersection of the DMZ and the Laotian border. It then went north of Khe Sanh, crossed [[National Highway 9 (Vietnam)|Highway 9]], and then down the western border of South Vietnam, in and out of [[Cambodia]] and [[Laos]].<ref name=TRS>{{citation | Original planning was by engineer colonel Vo Bam. His initial plan started at the Mu Gia and Nape passes in the Annamite foothills within North vietnam, paralleled the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for 20 miles in [[Laos]], and turned into South Vietnam proper at the intersection of the DMZ and the Laotian border. It then went north of Khe Sanh, crossed [[National Highway 9 (Vietnam)|Highway 9]], and then down the western border of South Vietnam, in and out of [[Cambodia]] and [[Laos]].<ref name=TRS>{{citation | ||
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| contribution = The Road South: the Ho Chi Minh trail | | contribution = The Road South: the Ho Chi Minh trail | ||
}}, pp. 77-80</ref> | }}, pp. 77-80</ref> | ||
To carry out actual contstruction, it had two subordinate regiments, the 70th and 71st, composed of truck, roadbuilding, and other operational functions. <ref name=NSAVN-3>{{citation | |||
| chapter = Chapter 3 - "To Die in the South": SIGINT, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the Infiltration Problem, [Deleted] 1968 | |||
| title = Spartans in Darkness: American SIGINT and the Indochina War, 1945-1975 | |||
| first1 = Robert J. | last1 =Hanyok | |||
| publisher = Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency | |||
| year = 2002 | |||
| url = http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/spartans/chapter3.pdf }}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
Revision as of 21:49, 5 December 2008
A general term for a complex logistical system, the Ho Chi Minh trail was a system of logistical facilities in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia that the People's Army of Viet Nam used to send troops and equipment into South Vietnam. It was operated by the 559th Transportation Group under then-senior colonel Dong Sy Nguyen, which was under the General Directorate of Rear Services.
The commitment to build the trail came from a Politburo decision of May 1959, hence the name 559th Group; that was the date they decided to invade the South.
While the Trail proper was the ground route into the South, two related systems often are considered part: [1]
- 559th Transportation Group
- 18 engineer battalions
- 4 antiaircraft battalions with 4 more in general support
- 45 way stations
- 759th Transportation Group for sea-based supply
- 959th Transportation Group for supply of the Pathet Lao
- 665th Transportation Group managing personnel movements to the South and evacuation of wounded to the North.
Routes
Original planning was by engineer colonel Vo Bam. His initial plan started at the Mu Gia and Nape passes in the Annamite foothills within North vietnam, paralleled the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for 20 miles in Laos, and turned into South Vietnam proper at the intersection of the DMZ and the Laotian border. It then went north of Khe Sanh, crossed Highway 9, and then down the western border of South Vietnam, in and out of Cambodia and Laos.[2]
To carry out actual contstruction, it had two subordinate regiments, the 70th and 71st, composed of truck, roadbuilding, and other operational functions. [3]
References
- ↑ Goscha, Christopher E. (April 2002), The Maritime Nature of the Wars for Vietnam (1945-75)
- ↑ Prados, John (2006), The Road South: the Ho Chi Minh trail, in Wiest, Andrew, Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: the Vietnam War Revisited, Osprey Publishing, pp. 77-80
- ↑ Hanyok, Robert J. (2002), Chapter 3 - "To Die in the South": SIGINT, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the Infiltration Problem, [Deleted 1968], Spartans in Darkness: American SIGINT and the Indochina War, 1945-1975, Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency