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Hue, Khe Sanh and the DMZ
The ancient city of Hue is the 'cultural heart' of Vietnam with an ancient and impressive citadel and palace and a collection of royal tombs lining the Song River. If you think of Vietnam as shaped like a dog bone, then the divide between north and south was about ½ way up, along the Ben Hai river. Hue was just south of the border and in early 1968, it got hammered. The North Vietnamese occupied the city for over 3 weeks: the street combat, firefights, bombing and rocket exchange were brutal and highly destructive. During the occupation, over 2500 merchants, civil servants, priests, monks and intellectuals were murdered by northern troops. West of Hue, in the highlands near one branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Khe Sanh Combat Base came under a viscious 75-day siege. These two battles were some of the few that were followed closely 'back home' - and that people remembered. I toured both sites but time has erased most of obvious scars. The visitors book at Khe Sanh captured fascinating comments from returning vets from both sides.
The ancient city of Hue is the 'cultural heart' of Vietnam with an ancient and impressive citadel and palace and a collection of royal tombs lining the Song River. If you think of Vietnam as shaped like a dog bone, then the divide between north and south was about ½ way up, along the Ben Hai river. Hue was just south of the border and in early 1968, it got hammered. The North Vietnamese occupied the city for over 3 weeks: the street combat, firefights, bombing and rocket exchange were brutal and highly destructive. During the occupation, over 2500 merchants, civil servants, priests, monks and intellectuals were murdered by northern troops. West of Hue, in the highlands near one branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Khe Sanh Combat Base came under a viscious 75-day siege. These two battles were some of the few that were followed closely 'back home' - and that people remembered. I toured both sites but time has erased most of obvious scars. The visitors book at Khe Sanh captured fascinating comments from returning vets from both sides.
