Vietnam War: The Ho Chi Minh Trail

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The Ho Chi Minh Trail played a very significant role in Vietnam War and helped the North Vietnam with the war against South Vietnam. The construction of trails started when North Vietnam wanted paths to travel to South Vietnam. United States tried many ways to block and destroy the trail to stop the travel of supplies from North to South. Ho Chi Minh trail was very dangerous since it went through jungles and mountains. The trail was used to transport supplies from North by foot until roads were improved for transportation. Vietnam government is transforming the trail to highway to help the poor. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was made up of dangerous series of paths used by South Vietnam to link supply bases in North Vietnam.
The trail construction was ongoing throughout the war and continuous improvements were made to the trail. The trail was often described as a maze of twelve thousands miles of roads, trails, and other bypasses that were threaded through eastern Laos and Northeastern Cambodia crisscrossing Vietnam (Lamb). The trail was hard to detect because it cut through mountains and dense jungles of North Vietnam(“The Ho Chi…”). In the article “The Ho Chi” also stated, the trail linked multiple supply bases in North Vietnam with the battlefield in South Vietnam. According to Lamb, the construction of Ho Chi Minh trail started on May 19, 1959 when PAVN General Vo Bam was ordered to make a path from Truong Son Mountains to road, so they could send supplies to southern rebels. By early 1966, the communist expanded the trail to add small roads through mountains of North Vietnam and Laos (“ The Ho Chi Minh…”). Vadas stated, thousands of women help build the Ho Chi Minh Trail. During the construction of network of old pipelines along th...

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...environmentalist including Plante argue that the road can cause trouble because the highway might compromise biodiversity hotspots, including parks and nature revenues(Bui). Also, Plante stated “ Road constructions and placement can separate and destroy the communities they’re intended to help(Lynh).”
To conclude, Ho Chi Minh trail was very important road for North Vietnamese. The trail was build to transfer supplies to South Vietnam from North. U.S was very threatened by the Ho Chi Minh trail, so they tried to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The trail was very beneficial, but very dangerous and life threatening. People traveled in bicycles or walked the trail with supplies before the roads improved for trucks. The trail was seen as hope for winning the war against the South. After 30 years, the trail has become hope for improving the economic by building an highway.

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