I’ve been reading about the Vietnam War. In particular, about the Air War.
A big part of that was the effort to stop the movement of men, women and materiel` along the Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam. And the essential part played by the Forward Air Controllers (FAC).
Here is a description of the soldiers and “mules” that walked that trail.
“As to whom and what is actually on the Trail, let’s start with the North Vietnamese soldiers, your basic NVA. As minimum load, each man carries a tubular sack of rice slung around his torso, and a knapsack with thirty pounds of other food, medicine, extra clothes, a hammock, and a waterproof sheet. On top of that, he carries his weapon and ammunition. When he arrives at the Laotian border, his North Vietnamese Army uniform is exchanged for that of a Lao neutralist. This is to maintain the fiction there are no NVA soldiers in Laos. He is supposed to give up all personal effects but few do. We’ve found scads of personal stuff on bodies. A local guide takes him halfway to the first of a series of way stations, called Binh Trans in Vietnamese, along the HCT. There he is met by the next guide until he is in South Vietnam. These posts are linked by telephone wire to keep radio transmissions down. In South Vietnam he receives a set of black civilian pajamas, two unmarked NVA uniforms, a sweater, a hammock, mosquito netting, and waterproof sheeting, a rucksack, a water canteen, two cans of insecticide, and 100 malaria pills. This weighs about 65 pounds. After being issued a five-day supply of food, he is assigned to an operational unit and sent on his way. They travel from dusk until midnight, resting ten minutes every hour. They stop every third day to hunt, fish, and rest. They walk at six-meter intervals in the forest, and fifty meters in the open.” “Next we have the human pack animals. They can be men or women. They either tote a sixty-pound load, or they push a bicycle. Along parts of the Trail, many of these bikes carry three to four hundred pounds. They steer them by sticks attached to the seat and handle bars.
In the mountain sections, they press-gang mountain tribesmen as load bearers. Their motto is, ‘Walk without tracks, cook without smoke, speak without sound.’ There are no villages along the Trail to replenish supplies. But there are hundreds of supply caches and manned outposts for truck repair, road repair, anti-aircraft sites, and underground hospitals.
The Trail ran from North Vietnam, through Laos, and into South Vietnam.
The Sihanouk Trail through Cambodia was improved enough for truck traffic. Convoys delivered supplies to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They traveled at night and hid during the day.
The Rules Of Engagement (politically dictated) forbade American pilots from attacking the seaports, air bases and railroads that offloaded and shipped goods to the trailheads of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
We have three categories of rules. We have the ROE, Rules of Engagement; these are from the JCS and define what we can and cannot hit, harass, harry, or blow up. Then we have the ORs, Operating Restrictions; these are from CINCPAC and define what we can and cannot hit, harass, harry, or blow up. Finally, we have the Seventh Ors, Seventh Air Force Operating Restrictions from Tan Son Nhut, that define what we can and cannot hit, harass, harry, or blow up. They tell us that all these rules are national policy translated for battlefield use. We lump them all together and call them the ROE. Every time the government talks to someone from North Vietnam, or every time McNamara has a new message to send to Ho Chi Minh, the ROEs change, usually for the worse.
That is why there was such an intensive campaign of interdiction on the Trail. It was impossible to cut off the Trail. One description reads,
“From Hanoi down through Laos and on to the point where the supplies swing into South Vietnam is close to 1,000 miles. Add the double trails, switchbacks, cat’s eyes, truck parks, maintenance depots, resupply points, off-load and transfer points, and we have a system in reality which is three or four times as long. In most areas the Trail can be widened, switched, dualed, duplicated, or cut through a fresh new batch of jungle damn near over night.”
The FACs put their lives on the line to spot all types of traffic on the trail, both day and night, and then direct air attacks on the enemy.
President Johnson and his administration were responsible for the death, wounding and capture of many tens of thousands of American fighting men. They viewed the War as a matter of numbers and statistics. They never acknowledged the human cost. They considered only the political ramifications.
Suggested targets for bombing were sent from the war theatre up the line to the White House and literally individually selected by Johnson and McNamara during fancy “get together” dinners.
Enemy fighter aircraft (Russian MIGs) on the ground were off limits, as were the airfields. Railroads, bridges and ships delivering arms were likewise off limits. Rail cars visibly transporting SAMs and materiel` to set up SAM sites, off limits.
So many brave American patriots were lost because of cold calculating politicians. America could have easily subdued North Vietnam in short order. Americans were willing to sacrifice to preserve our Nation and our freedom, and then were then betrayed by crude, despicable Johnson. North Vietnam, Russia and China played by their own rules, and they played U.S. politicians. And just like today, most of the media sided with our enemies.
As always, my own opinion.
