JULY 2019 SUPPLEMENT VOL 82.5 Chapter 16 Newsleer Organizaon and Responsibilies: Editor: Glen Craig The Ho Chi Minh Trail Secons: The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the route from North Vietnam to South Message from the President: Stephen Durfee Vietnam thru Laos and Cambodia that North Vietnam used to Treasurers Report: Willi Lindner supply the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam with Weapons, Ammuni on and other supplies. Sec. Rpt (Staff Meeng Minutes): Mike Barkstrom Sick Call/Obituary: Chaplain Butch Hall Blast from the Past: Glen Craig Special Recognion: Mike Barkstrom Upcoming Events: Mike Barkstrom Calendar: Stephen Durfee Human Interest Story: Chapter at large SFA Naonal HQ Update: Stephen Durfee Aer Acon Report: Jim Lessler Membership Info: Roy Sayer Adversements: Glen Craig Suspense: Newsleer published (Web): 1st of each odd numbered month Input due to editor: 20th of each even numbered month Dra due to President: 27th of each even numbered month Final Dra due 29th of each even numbered month I thought this was interesng and wanted to share it with everyone. I hope you enjoy it. Legend of the Ho Chi Minh Trail Ho Chi Minh Trail Aug14, 2012 Please ask, about our Ho Chi Minh Trail tours! Page 1 Ho Chi Minh trail, painng by Veteran Larry Chambers The Legend of the Ho Chi Minh trail, there are few brand names to match that of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the secret, shiing, network of deep jungle tracks that led to the Victory for Vietnam war. SA 2 Surface to Air missile, Ho Chi Minh trail Southern Laos, Ho Chi Minh trail Huey helicopter used in the Lamson bale at the Ban Dong war museum Well here I sit in Laos again, I have been pung around the place on and off for 10 years now. Mostly traveling by motorcycle, no surprise there. However I am now into offroading. This lile hobby started around 1999 when I took my first backpacking trip aer 15 years sailing around the globe on my sailboat Espritdemer. This land trip took in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. All countries I was able to rent bikes with the excepon of Laos. And Laos, in those years was just opening up to tourism. Well so off to Singapore and buy a bike. Where I found a trusty ole Xl600 Honda. This good ole bike made many trips up through Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Borneo. To cut a long story short eventually I moved down to a smaller more nimble bike an XR400. In around 2003 I discovered the ancient Kymer Empire known as Ankor Wat. Cambodia at the me was just coming out of the Kymer Rouge era and the country was in a shambles with and dilapidated road network, which had more oxcarts than cars in the country. Well with the combinaon of great offroad riding and the lure of ancient temples in the Jungles. (Indiana Jones). I spent a few seasons with my GPS mapping, discovering many ancient temples and ancient road networks across the land. Wow great fun and memories, unl development caught up with the place and it became a bit ordinary. The fantasc temples, sur- rounded by landmine signs with skull and crossbones that I would camp inside, would now have cket gates guards and tourists!! So my aenon turned northwards towards Laos and in the theme of ancient roads, the Ho Chi Minh trails were the next target. Of course with all the GPS gear from the boat and a few navigaon skills. I used the incredible US Military maps to find the old trails which were intact, lots of war junk along the trails and the main source of income for the locals was selling the metal to the Vietnamese which was then melted down in smelters. So blah blah blah. Aer a few years of this great fun I connued to map the whole of the country and produce the LaosGPSmap which you can see on the web site. However the Ho Chi Minh trail connues to be a passion, In fact I am wring this from Xepon site of one of the biggest bales of war. The Lao and Vietnamese are have a huge celebraon and dedicaon ceremony at the new war museum here at Ban Dong. UXO Laos, Aepue province Page 2 Chinese tank on road 96 Ho Chi Minh trail appears to have toppled down the side of the hill and been buried, This tank lay underground unl the ADB funded road was cut and an excavator uncovered this perfectly intact specimen, although a lile dirty , live arllery shells and equipment were sll inside the cockpit Tank turret Aimed at the Sihanouk trail Southern Laos, Ho Chi Minh trail What a fantasc view from this road looking into the Aepue valley. To me it was a dark, foreboding place where we knew the enemy was creeping up on us and we were shoong at ghosts, just every once in a while happening to hit something important. Not enough to stem the de. Chinese built, T 58 tank with gun and turret, Ho Chi Minh trail Inside the cockpit when this tank was uncovered, the 2 squares in front of the driver, are prisms so the tank can be operated without opening the hatch, Ho Chi Minh trail speedometer and tachometer from Chinese built tank, One can only speculate that this tank fell off the side of the hill then was buried by a landslide? on the Ho Chi Minh trail This secon of “The trail” was “saved” When the Belgian Cooperaon upgraded the road in 2008. This road was heavily used during the war to transport guns and ammo, however the original construcon was during the French era. Aer a very long days exploring, many trees were blocking the road, lucky I had my saw with me. I managed to hack through the jungle and found myself on this perch overlooking Sepon. This was the site of An Aircra gun emplacements, remains of bunkers can be found along this ridge. Ho Chi Minh trail Laos My bike. photo above, is on LZ Sophia overlooking the Xepon valley scene of the Bale of Lamson File Photo, March 1971 Lz Sophia, Excerpt,”I parcipated in two invasions of Cambodia.The first was the U.S. invasion in the Spring of 1970. The second was in early 1971 (a couple of weeks before my tour of duty was over) when the South Vietnamese alone invaded Cambodia but were supported by U.S. gunship and Page 3 medevac aircra. During that second invasion, I never saw Cambodia during the day, as all of my medevac border crossings came at or aer sunset. One night while we were deep in Cambodia (North of Phnom Penh) we were hijacked by some ARVN’s (Army Republic of Vietnam) who were losing a bale. Because of the large number of casuales, the mission called for two Dustoff aircra. I was the first bird in and CW2 was right behind us with his. Our landing site was to the center of a ring of tanks and and APC’s (armored personnel carriers) located on the top of a large bare (defoliated) hill top surrounded by thick jungle. All of the tanks and APC’s were outward and engaging with the enemy. The chaos reminded me of an old Western movie where the encircled wagon train was defending itself from Indian aacks from all sides. When we “touched down” the ARVN’s abandoned their wounded and swarmed my aircra. My medic and crewchief started to throw the unwounded off the aircra when the ARVN’s pointed their weapons at us. I told my crew to get back on board and close the cargo doors when they could. I tried to pick our bird up to a hover, but with all the ARVNs on board, we were well over our Gross Max Weight limits and our rotor (RPM) would keep bleeding off. Since we were sing ducks where we were, I decided to try a running take off and aempt to reach “translaonal li” by running (sliding along on our skids) down the hillside. I was surrounded by armored vehicles, so I looked for an opening between two vehicles that was large enough to fit, but ended up clipping off both of their FM whip antennas. Once outside of the circle of armored vehicles we started our run down the hillside with all lights out except our search light (the scan of which I controlled by my thumb on the cyclic). We slid and bounced toward the tree line, slowly gaining ground speed by nursing the rotor RPM, engine RPM and Torque sengs gingerly to achieve li off. As we cleared the the tree tops, I turned the search light off and began a slow climb and increase in airspeed. I radioed Stan to warn him what he was in for and asked my crew for a head count of ARVN’s on board. My crew chief said it was a “…pile of assholes and elbows and shit eang smiles…” that he esmated the count at 17-18 or more. Then my medic shouted that we had an ARVN hanging from the skids! I immediately reduced airspeed and power to begin a descent. I remember thinking,’”Man oh man, now what are you going to do? You’ve got a guy on the skids and a triple canopy jungle beneath you and it’s pitch black out there and you’re in the middle of bad guy country along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.”.