DMZ

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I got stuck at Donh Ha for three days because I had no credit card and no money and the Banks were closed for the New Years holiday. I met a former South Vietnamese soldier who was also a guide and he got the hotel and restaurant to give me credit until the banks opened and I could cash some travelers checks.

Soooo, I got to see more of the DMZ then I really wanted to. After 31 years there isn’t a whole lot to see but on the other hand every now and then you see remnants of war going back to the first Indochina war of 1946-54. Since 1975, 5000 people have been Injured or killed in and around the DMZ by mines and ordnance left over from the war. You are constantly warned to stay on the well-traveled path. Also, where new construction or new farming is taking place you see mine sweepers in operation to this day.

All In all it was time well spent for me. I enjoyed my time with Tran Hoa my South Vietnamese soldier friend. He spent a lot of time with me and as I said, probably showed me more than I wanted to know.
Most of my photos were lost when I took my chip to the photographer and when he returned it with a disk I wiped the chip clean before checking the disk and it was blank. What you don't see in these photos is the hunks of tanks, helocopters and bunkers you still see that go back to before 1954. One of the noticable things left by Americans, besides ordanance which is still being dug up today, is sandbags, which where plastic and have never decomposed.

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Photos

DMZ
This is a bombed Church that has not been repaired. It remains standing as it was after the battle as a memorial.

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This is what is left of the old French Prison at the Citidal of Quang Tri. Note the size of the prison cell. I would not fit in this very good. The prison was used by the French, South Vietnamese and Americans. The whole Citadel complex was almost completely destroyed after four North Vietnamese regulars backed by tanks and rockets poured across the DMZ in the Eastertide Offensive. Over 5000 South Vietnamese lost their lives in retaking the Citadel which completely obliterated.

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This is called the International Cemetery at Trong Son. By Internatinal they mean soldiers that were killed in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are buryed here.

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A memorial service being conducted at Trong Son International Cemetery.

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The dead are grouped in five zones, according to the part of Vietnam they come from: each zone isfurther subdivided into provinces. The gravestones of five colonels and seven decorated heroes (Trung Ta and Dai Ta represent the ranks of the martyrs, including one woman, are in a separate area. Each headstone bears the inscription "Liet Si" which means Martyr. An unknown soldier is also buryed here.

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My guide near the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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Last year a one hundred year old flood wiped out the bridge the North Vietnamese built after the 1973 peace accords to help transport trucks and heavy equipment to the South to set the stage for the final assault on S. Vietnam.

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A pepper plant. That and rubber trees farms dot the DMZ today.

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Another memorial along HWY One. Over 72 cemeterys have been constucted in Quang Tri Province alone.

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An opening of one of the tunnels at Vinh Moc looking out to sea to observe American Ships. The tunnels at Vinh Moc are a lot bigger than at Cu Chi. I wouldn't have visited them if I hadn't had time to kill. I almost got killed her as I was following my guide through the dark tunnel I touched a live electric wire and got the shock of my life. Some Vietnamese had taken off the light fixture and just left the bare wires dangling waiting for someone to come groping along.

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Gives you a sense of size of the huge navel shells fired at Vinh Moc trying to distroy the tunnels. The Vietnamese just dug deeper.

Comments

[Kate Hildebrand]

Looks great- I'm heading there tomorrow!