Museum Audio Tour 33: Modern Flight Gallery: SEA War Laos Panhandle and Ho Chi Minh Trail

DAYTON, OH, UNITED STATES

12.31.1969

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

The confused situation caused by the civil war in Laos permitted North Vietnam to use southern Laos - known as the “Panhandle” - to move troops and supplies to South Vietnam. In 1959, the communists began traveling along the same network of paths through the Panhandle’s mountains and jungles used against the Japanese in World War II and the French afterward. In 1961, the communists started improving the route, nicknamed the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” as a dedication to the leader of North Vietnam. By 1964, U.S. Air Force reconnaissance missions over southern Laos indicated that the Ho Chi Minh Trail had grown into a major infiltration route. Foot trails had been improved into truck roads, with smaller paths for bicycles and walking. In December 1964, the U.S. Air Force started attacking targets along the Trail to interdict the reinforcement and supply of communist insurgents in South Vietnam.

• Date Taken: 12.31.1969
• Date Posted: 09.02.2015 13:25
• Category: Newscasts
• Audio ID: 41945
• Filename: 1509/DOD_102704327.mp3
• Length: 00:01:00
• Album: Museum Audio Tour
• Track #: 33
• Location: DAYTON, OH, US