The Demilitarised Zone served as the border between the former North and South Vietnam for two decades. To prevent North Vietnamese troops and supplies from crossing the border, the Americans and South Vietnamese built a string of bases along Highway 9, just south of the DMZ. Some of the heaviest fighting occurred at Khe Sanh, a US Marine Corps base that the North Vietnamese placed under siege for 77 days in 1968. The US response has been called “the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare”, with US forces dropping almost 40,000 tonnes of bombs on the surrounding area.
About Vinh Moc Tunnels
The fishing village of Vinh Moc had the misfortune of being located on the northern mouth of the Ben Hai river, which became the border when Vietnam was partitioned in 1954. Between 1966 and 1972, US forces dropped 9,000 tonnes of bombs on Vinh Moc, the equivalent of 7 tonnes for every man, woman and child. The villagers responded by digging a series of tunnels underground, eventually creating a 2km network of tunnels up to 30m below the surface. The tunnels included kitchens, classrooms, hospitals and maternity wards – over the course of the war, 17 children were born in the tunnels.
