Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Research Writing Exercise by Jessica Stafford

     The Vietnam War was the largest war in American history. The Americans supported the South Vietnamese in the war against the communist North, but struggled to be victorious as they were forced to try to stop the North Vietnamese who traveled on an underground trail that had many different paths to confuse their enemies. This trail was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.     
     The Ho Chi Minh Trail, named after the North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and known in Vietnam as the “Truong Son Strategic Supply Route” and "the Blood Road", is a group of roads that stretch from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia. It was known as "the Blood Road" in regards to the attempted bombing raids by Americans which led to some casualties but those who did not add to the number of casualties were faced with a long grueling walk to South Vietnam. The trail consisted of a series of truck routes and foot paths. It was originally built on one of Ho Chi Minh's birthdays on May 9, 1959 to serve as a secret path to carry war supplies to the south and to provide support for the Vietcong and North Vietnamese army during the Vietnam war. The trail was 16,000 kilometers long which is 9,940 miles long. It took the North Vietnamese soldiers as long as six months to walk the trail to the battlefields of South Vietnam. At least 10 percent of the total number of casualties on the trail were caused by Malaria. Ultimately, the trail made it difficult for the United States and South Vietnam to stop the transportation of weapons to the south. This resulted in South Vietnam and the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia falling to Communism.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1875.html


The path of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and each of the paths that
were created to confuse enemies.

















2 comments:

  1. This is so compelling. I always heard the term "Hochi Minh Trail" and I always thought that it was some metaphorical place. I thought this because in so many other wars places that are referred too are often not physical places you can see on the map. It also amazes me how long the trial actually was and it is understandable how the Americans had a hard time destroying it.

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  2. I really like the picture you used. I think it's crazy how much long the trail is and how much thought they put into it, like paths to confuse the enemy. On their part, I think it was a really good tactic. A hidden underground trail is a really big benefit and probably helped them a lot.

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