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Phong Nha is a beautiful place surrounded by rice paddies and hundreds of stunning caves. Nearby is the recently discovered Son Doong- the largest cave in the world. The locals ride bicycles and smile and wave when they pass by, they walk their buffalo and carry everything in baskets dangling from a pole balanced on their shoulders. The air is fresh (too fresh for my liking, I had planned to skip winter this year) and in the evening, it hums with the chorus of frogs and crickets. Individual Jurassic Park-style hills loom from the mists and paddle boats carry mopeds across the river. It's a relaxed life, quiet and friendly, with little evidence of the horror that occured here only a generation ago.
Being the narrowest part of Vietnam, the Americans (and occasional Australian & New Zealander etc) chose to target this area with bombs. The river running through Phong Nha town being the perfect place to stop supplies from the north reaching the south. What do you do when only 10% of supplies are reaching their destination? Send 1000%. The Vietnamese aren't stupid.
The Americans bombed any form of transport and bridge they set their eyes on and ensured maximum difficulty to Vietnamese survival. They had full and only access to the skies and dropped bombs and sprayed Agent Orange with no hesitancy. America owned the day.
But the Vietnamese owned the night.
Vast tunnel networks 30 meters underground were built for fighting, sleeping, fetching water, living. If on top of the ground is too dangerous, simply move your lives inside it. Many fights were won by Vietnamese appearing out of the ground or trapping Americans like animals. Under the cover of night, the Vietnamese built a runway. Each section covered by grass and twigs, hidden in daylight, expanding at night, now called Highway 20, after the average age of death of the people working on it. Only 1 flight took off that runway. Smuggled in, disembled, American air control refused to believe that the glitch in the system could possibly be a Vetnamese aircraft. The destroyed American ship kept Vietnam's spirit and ingenuity high.
The Americans dropped a recording device resembling a little tree so they could hear the perfect time to drop bombs. A 12 year old girl from Phong Nha town figured it out and put a recording of trucks next to it, so the Americans bombed that area, while miles away trucks moved undiscovered.
The Americans dropped magnetic bombs into the river, with a 5 second delay. One man paddled a streamline canoe through the river, with a metal strip attached to the underside, bombs exploding behind him. An act of bravery- or stupidity- to prevent the normal practise of children fishing for the bombs and hiding in trenches as they explode.
Also at night, apart from working the fields for basic survival, the Vietnamese built a floating bridge and hid it in the Phong Nha cave, named Phong Nha- Dragon's mouth- because of the stalagtites coming down like teeth. Through the throat-like tunnel is the larger chest cavity of the dragon cave; the Phong Nha hospital of the '60s. The pontoon bridge would be taken out at night, so trucks could cross from north to south providing supplies to their country, only to vanish back into the cave as dawn arrived, baffling the Americans. Phong Nha cave was integral to their survival.
One day the Americans dropped flares instead of bombs, the night became day and the pontoon bridge was discovered. Eight attempts to bomb the cave and distroy the bridge failed, due to the angle the plane had to manoever in order to avoid the cliff face & the women and children anti-aircraft gunners on the river banks. The 9th pilot, however, succeeded, knocking the dragon's teeth out and damaging the bridge. That pilot visited the guesthouse here 2 years ago and shook hands with the owner's mother who, 30 years prior to their meeting, had had a machine gun in her hands, the hope of his death in her gut.
Of course, the American people did not want this war and the Vietnamese won, so interrelations are good and the country is at peace. It is often hard to contemplate that not long ago these calm smiling women working the fields were children shooting planes, fishing for bombs and living in tunnels.
Let's hope for everyone's sake the lesson is finally learnt: Don't mess with Vietnam!
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