Visiting Dong Ha, Vietnam

It’s been a few months since my last post about the first part of our Vietnam trip, and since then a lot of the world has changed with COVID-19! I figured what better time than while staying at home to continue recapping our travels before all travel was halted. If you read my last post, you saw what my parents and I spent time doing in Hanoi. After spending that day in Ha Long Bay, we left Hanoi for Hue for the second part of our trip.

After a quick flight, we checked into our hotel and decided to walk to the Imperial City since we only had one afternoon before driving to Dong Ha. Word of advice, if you’re super into guides, there are plenty of them waiting to pounce and take your money so don’t worry about finding one. I personally don’t love guides, so we simply went to the entrance ticket booth and walked around the complex ourselves.

I really liked visiting the Imperial City. It was gorgeous and vast, and had the best gardens and random buildings to explore.

Now for the fun part – going to Dong Ha to visit all of the places my Dad was during the war. For those who are curious, here is my Dad’s geographical journey.

After 2 days in Danang I flew to the American airstrip in Dong ha. The 3rd Marine Division and 12th Marine Regiment HQs were located there. Later that day I went by truck along route 9 to Camp Carroll (West of Dong ha) passing through the town of Cam lo. Camp Carroll was HQ for the 12th Marine Regiment’s 1st Battalion. I was assigned to the 1st Battalion’s Battery C. For the next couple of months I drove an ammo truck from Camp Carroll to Dong ha or Quang tri almost every day. In late spring we moved all our guns and trucks West along route 9 to Ca lu, passing through the Rock Pile. Eventually we continued West to Khe sanh. After the seige ended at Khe sanh we relocated back to Ca lu (which by then had an airfield and was renamed LZ Vandergrift). After operations ended there we moved briefly back to Camp Carroll. In midsummer we moved from Camp Carroll to Quang tri. From there our guns we’re airlifted East to a place near the coast called Ha loc. Our trucks had to be taken by boat. We operated out of there until late Summer then relocated back to LZ Vandergrift. My tour ended while we were at LZ Vandergrift.

With all of that in mind, I found us a really wonderful guide/driver to take us around and show us all these spots! His name was Mr. Trung, and he also fought in the war with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. You can find reviews of him here, and his email is nguyenvantrungdmz@yahoo.com if you are planning a trip to Dong Ha. My parents and I would highly recommend him – he was knowledgeable, and a joy to spend 2 days with. Most tourists choose to see all the war sites in 1 day, but my Dad didn’t want to feel rushed so we stretched it to 2. It was great for our trip, and knowing where everything is now would allow my Dad to go back and spend even more time exploring in the future.

Our first stop was what was once Quang Tri airfield, a massive Marine and Air Force base during the war. Now, it’s just grass and gravel piles, which is a common theme for places that existed previously. When the Northern communists won the war, they only chose to preserve certain sites (with their own spin on recalling historical events), and ones like this just weren’t important.

The next stop was a walk through farmland and woods to get to Con Thien Firebase. We bumped into another couple who was visiting because the man had fought with the Marines at this Firebase during his time in Vietnam. Unfortunately, there is not much there any longer except an old bunker amid rubber trees.

We then moved onto the Truong Son National Martyrs Cemetery, built to honor the Northern Vietnamese soldiers who died along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It is the largest military cemetery in Vietnam, with over 12,000 graves.

After leaving the cemetery, we headed to Khe Sanh, with a few stops along the way. The first stop being the old headquarters for the 9th Marine Regiment, which now is just two buildings. My dad’s battery provided direct artillery support to the 9th Marines.

The next stop was a monument, the only marker left of Camp Carroll. Since this was the fire base where my dad had spent most of his time while in Vietnam, I think it was probably a little strange to have it be reduced to a singular statue surrounded by farmland and jungle.

The last place we stopped at before going to Khe Sanh was the Rock Pile. It is basically a mountain in the middle of an open area, and its relatively inaccessible location, reached only by helicopter, made it an important US Army and Marine Corps observation post and artillery base from 1966 to 1969.

We finally arrived at our ultimate destination, the Khe Sanh Combat Base. This base is famous for the Battle of Khe Sanh, which was a siege that lasted five months. According to Wikipedia,

“American commanders considered the defense of Khe Sanh a success, but shortly after the siege was lifted, the decision was made to dismantle the base rather than risk similar battles in the future. On 19 June 1968, the evacuation and destruction of KSCB began. Amid heavy shelling, the Marines attempted to salvage what they could before destroying what remained as they were evacuated. Minor attacks continued before the base was officially closed on 5 July. Marines remained around Hill 689, though, and fighting in the vicinity continued until 11 July until they were finally withdrawn, bringing the battle to a close.”

What is left now is a main museum building, with a heavy North Vietnamese spin on recounting of history, and various planes, tanks, and artillery remnants scattered around the property.