On the Ho Chi Minh Trail

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail PDF Author: Sherry Buchanan
Publisher: Asia Ink/Asia Society
ISBN: 9781916346307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Follow Sherry Buchanan on a journey by an author who has long had a passion for Vietnamese art and for the sketches produced under the duress of the Vietnam or American War (1965-1975). Though she was familiar with and had traveled in Vietnam, she had never attempted the Trail before. The epic military road through the spectacular Tru'ò'ng So'n Mountains was built by North Vietnam to bring about the unification of North and South Vietnam, promised in the 1954 Geneva Accords. The United States, allied with South Vietnam to defeat the communist North, deployed close to eight million tons of bombs against it. Buchanan encounters totemic locations from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, and records her interactions - both scheduled and spontaneous - with North the South Vietnamese, Laotians, and Americans, who were actors or participants in the Vietnam War. Buchanan reveals the stories of the women who defended the Trail against the sustained American bombing campaign - the most ferocious in modern warfare - and of the artists who drew them. She focuses on what life was really like for the women and men under fire, bringing a unique perspective to the history of the Vietnam War. She discovers an inspiring postwar legacy of personal healing, forgiveness, and atonement. She talks to the Vietnamese women veterans who encouraged a culture of forgiveness toward the foreign enemy and continued their fight for social justice; to American veterans who returned to Vietnam to take responsibility where their government had failed to do so; and to women in the former South Vietnam who brought reconciliation through art. Interspersed with these accounts are excerpts from memoirs and chronicles that reveal logistical details of the Ho Chi Minh Trail which were hidden until now.

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail PDF Author: Sherry Buchanan
Publisher: Asia Ink/Asia Society
ISBN: 9781916346307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Follow Sherry Buchanan on a journey by an author who has long had a passion for Vietnamese art and for the sketches produced under the duress of the Vietnam or American War (1965-1975). Though she was familiar with and had traveled in Vietnam, she had never attempted the Trail before. The epic military road through the spectacular Tru'ò'ng So'n Mountains was built by North Vietnam to bring about the unification of North and South Vietnam, promised in the 1954 Geneva Accords. The United States, allied with South Vietnam to defeat the communist North, deployed close to eight million tons of bombs against it. Buchanan encounters totemic locations from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, and records her interactions - both scheduled and spontaneous - with North the South Vietnamese, Laotians, and Americans, who were actors or participants in the Vietnam War. Buchanan reveals the stories of the women who defended the Trail against the sustained American bombing campaign - the most ferocious in modern warfare - and of the artists who drew them. She focuses on what life was really like for the women and men under fire, bringing a unique perspective to the history of the Vietnam War. She discovers an inspiring postwar legacy of personal healing, forgiveness, and atonement. She talks to the Vietnamese women veterans who encouraged a culture of forgiveness toward the foreign enemy and continued their fight for social justice; to American veterans who returned to Vietnam to take responsibility where their government had failed to do so; and to women in the former South Vietnam who brought reconciliation through art. Interspersed with these accounts are excerpts from memoirs and chronicles that reveal logistical details of the Ho Chi Minh Trail which were hidden until now.

Ho Chi Minh Trail 1964–73

Ho Chi Minh Trail 1964–73 PDF Author: Peter E. Davies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472842545
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
The Trails War formed a major part of the so-called 'secret war' in South East Asia, yet for complex political reasons, including the involvement of the CIA, it received far less coverage than campaigns like Rolling Thunder and Linebacker. Nevertheless, the campaign had a profound effect on the outcome of the war and on its perception in the USA. In the north, the Barrel Roll campaign was often operated by daring pilots flying obsolete aircraft, as in the early years, US forces were still flying antiquated piston-engined T-28 and A-26A aircraft. The campaign gave rise to countless heroic deeds by pilots like the Raven forward air controllers, operating from primitive airstrips in close contact with fierce enemy forces. USAF rescue services carried out extremely hazardous missions to recover aircrew who would otherwise have been swiftly executed by Pathet Lao forces, and reconnaissance pilots routinely risked their lives in solo, low-level mission over hostile territory. Further south, the Steel Tiger campaign was less covert. Arc Light B-52 strikes were flown frequently, and the fearsome AC-130 was introduced to cut the trails. At the same time, many thousands of North Vietnamese troops and civilians repeatedly made the long, arduous journey along the trail in trucks or, more often, pushing French bicycles laden with ammunition and rice. Under constant threat of air attack and enduring heavy losses, they devised extremely ingenious means of survival. The campaign to cut the trails endured for the entire Vietnam War but nothing more than partial success could ever be achieved by the USA. This illustrated title explores the fascinating history of this campaign, analysing the forces involved and explaining why the USA could never truly conquer the Ho Chi Minh trail.

The Blood Road

The Blood Road PDF Author: John Prados
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Prados considers each of the multiple perspectives that shaped the conflict: the struggle of the Vietnamese soldiers in the jungles, the heroism of American troops, the highly influential antiwar protests of the period, the intricate machinations of the generals and diplomats, and the lingering impact on the people and governments of neighboring Laos and Cambodia.

The Road to Freedom

The Road to Freedom PDF Author: Virginia Morris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a decisive factor in the defeat of American forces in the Vietnam War. At the peak of its 16 years' operation, the Trail ran through North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Despite an estimated 4 million tons of U.S. bombs, efforts to stop the transport of supplies to the North Vietnamese Army over the Trail failed, and by 1975 over a million tons of supplies and 2 million troops had been transported along its path. The author and photographer, the first Westerners to traverse the entire length of the Trail, trace the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands who designed, built, used and fought along it. They interviewed villagers along the Trail as well as key military and political figures on both sides of the conflict, including the mastermind, General Vo Nguyen Giap. Their accounts show that this Trail was a remarkable feat of engineering and tactical warfare of the Vietnam War era. Virginia Morris traveled around the world due to her interest in anthropology, history and natural history but later became focused on Asia. She spent two years in Laos, the first working for the United Nations Development Program and the second traveling in remote areas undertaking research for this book. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering, and is presently a partner in an engineering consultancy in the U.K.

Bury Us Upside Down

Bury Us Upside Down PDF Author: Rick Newman
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307414701
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
They had the most dangerous job n the Air Force. Now Bury Us Upside Down reveals the never-before-told story of the Vietnam War’s top-secret jet-fighter outfit–an all-volunteer unit composed of truly extraordinary men who flew missions from which heroes are made. In today’s wars, computers, targeting pods, lasers, and precision-guided bombs help FAC (forward air controller) pilots identify and destroy targets from safe distances. But in the search for enemy traffic on the elusive Ho Chi Minh Trail, always risking enemy fire, capture, and death, pilots had to drop low enough to glimpse the telltale signs of movement such as suspicious dust on treetops or disappearing tire marks on a dirt road (indicating a hidden truck park). Written by an accomplished journalist and veteran, Bury Us Upside Down is the stunning story of these brave Americans, the men who flew in the covert Operation Commando Sabre–or “Misty”–the most innovative air operation of the war. In missions that lasted for hours, the pilots of Misty flew zigzag patterns searching for enemy troops, vehicles, and weapons, without benefit of night-vision goggles, infrared devices, or other now common sensors. What they gained in exhilarating autonomy also cost them: of 157 pilots, 34 were shot down, 3 captured, and 7 killed. Here is a firsthand account of courage and technical mastery under fire. Here, too, is a tale of forbearance and loss, including the experience of the family of a missing Misty flier–Howard K. Williams–as they learn, after twenty-three years, that his remains have been found. Now that bombs are smart and remote sensors are even smarter, the missions that the Mistys flew would now be considered no less than suicidal. Bury Us Upside Down reminds us that for some, such dangers simply came with the territory.

A Short Ride in the Jungle

A Short Ride in the Jungle PDF Author: Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Publisher: Lost Classics Book Company
ISBN: 9781890623487
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This is not only the thrilling tale of a daring adventure on an aging motorcycle; it is also the story of Southeast Asia's legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail, and of a war, the effects of which can still be seen across the region and in the hearts of not only its people but of the many Americans whose lives were touched forever by it.Follow Antonia as she retraces the footsteps and tank tracks of this famous supply line through the mountains and jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Alone on a diminutive pink motorcycle, she encounters bomb craters, unexploded ordnance, mud, mountains, jungle, disappointment, and triumph--and almost without fail, cheerful and generous people along her path.

Ho Chi Minh's Blueprint for Revolution

Ho Chi Minh's Blueprint for Revolution PDF Author: Virginia Morris
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147666563X
Category : History
Languages : vi
Pages : 396

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Book Description
When Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975, the communist victory sent shockwaves around the world. Using ingenious strategy and tactics, Hồ Chi Minh had shown it was possible for a tiny nation to defeat a mighty Western power. The same tactics have been studied and replicated by revolutionary forces and terrorist organizations across the globe. Drawing on recently declassified documents and rare interviews with Hồ Chi Minh's strategists and operatives, this book offers fresh perspective on his blueprint and the reasons behind both the French (1945-1954) and the American (1959-1975) failures in Vietnam, concluding with an analysis of the threat this model poses today.

Following Ho Chi Minh

Following Ho Chi Minh PDF Author: Tin Bui
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824822330
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
"Here is a wealth of gossip level detail about life on the inside at the top in Hanoi--material Hanoi watchers lust after, seldom find." --Indochina Chronology"A rarity. A true North Vietnamese insider speaking candidly." --Book World, 30 April 2000

Invasion of Laos, 1971

Invasion of Laos, 1971 PDF Author: Robert D. Sander
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806145897
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
In 1971, while U.S. ground forces were prohibited from crossing the Laotian border, a South Vietnamese Army corps, with U.S. air support, launched the largest airmobile operation in the history of warfare, Lam Son 719. The objective: to sever the North Vietnamese Army’s main logistical artery, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, at its hub, Tchepone in Laos, an operation that, according to General Creighton Abrams, could have been the decisive battle of the war, hastening the withdrawal of U.S. forces and ensuring the survival of South Vietnam. The outcome: defeat of the South Vietnamese Army and heavy losses of U.S. helicopters and aircrews, but a successful preemptive strike that met President Nixon’s near-term political objectives. Author Robert Sander, a helicopter pilot in Lam Son 719, explores why an operation of such importance failed. Drawing on archives and interviews, and firsthand testimony and reports, Sander chronicles not only the planning and execution of the operation but also the maneuvers of the bastions of political and military power during the ten-year effort to end Communist infiltration of South Vietnam leading up to Lam Son 719. The result is a picture from disparate perspectives: the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations; the South Vietnamese government led by President Nguyen Van Thieu; and senior U.S. military commanders and army aviators. Sander’s conclusion is at once powerful and persuasively clear. Lam Son 719 was doomed in both the planning and execution—a casualty of domestic and international politics, flawed assumptions, incompetent execution, and the resolve of the North Vietnamese Army. A powerful work of military and political history, this book offers eloquent testimony that “failure, like success, cannot be measured in absolute terms.”

Tiger Hound

Tiger Hound PDF Author: Ken Welch
Publisher: Ken Welch
ISBN: 9781432755256
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
In 1963, communist insurgency was in it's infancy. Then South Vietnam's President was assassinated and it's government was in turmoil. Soon America found itself embroiled in war and secret wars. The enemy suffered horrible casualties but were handed victory.