from: The Hô Chí Minh
Trail; Hoàng Khôi and Thê Giói Publishers 2008;
English translation; first edition 2001; second
edition 2008; printed in Viêt Nam; VN - TG -
6.149-1
7. The Truòng Son Range
today
[Restored
villages - new Kinh villages with big farms]
<The last war ended over 20 years ago. Life
returned to normal and the people were jubilant and
animated in the uplifting verdure of the Truòng Son
Range, all along the length of the Ho Chi Minh
Trail. The restored villages of the ethnic
minorities mingle with the new villages of the Kinh
who came here to reclaim land and to establish
immense farms of pepper, coffee, and rubber.>
(p.97)
[New side industries and resources, crops and
infrastructure]
<The silence and the darkness of the mountains
and forests have been replaced by the noise of the
hand looms in many villages and the clanging of the
blacksmith's hammer. Many side industries (like
making conical hats, raincoats, paper, sugar) are
developing steadily. A new division of labor is
taking shape in a region previously still dominated
by a tribal regime. The people of Truòng Son are
taking advantage of their resources (soil, climate,
water currents, timber forests, industrial plants,
fruit trees, food crops, vegetables, and wild
animals) to enrich themselves and the country. The
tourist will see here the stable life of different
ethnic groups. Regions specializing in the (p.97)
cultivation of industrial crops (rubber, tea,
coffee), food crops (maize, cassava, vegetable), and
fruit trees have been delineated and increasingly
developed. Hydro-and thermo power stations have been
built on both sides of Truòng Son.> (p.98)
[Festivals - 17 written languages -
destructive customs are eliminated]
<Many national festivals, which were temporarily
forgotten during the anti-US war, are being
restored. Seventeen ethnic groups in Truòng Son have
a written language. Many backward customs and
habits, such as the custom of "linking thread",
"entrusting wealth" at the birth of a child, or
"filing one's teeth and stretching one's cars" have
faded away. The taboo associated with illness, labor
and childbirth no longer exist.> (p.98)
[General eagerness]
<The younger generations of ethnic minorities in
[the mountain range of] Truòng Son today are
descendants of those who opened the Ho Chi Minh
Trail and who defended it while fighting [the
Chinese, the French, the French Legion], the
Americans [and all their "befriended states"]. They
are highly educated and eager to have their native
land reach the same level of development as other
parts of the country and to create conditions for it
to be integrated with the world, both culturally and
economically.> (p.98)
[Truòng Son motorway for the year 2000]
<After the war, the Vietnamese government
projected the construction of the Truong Son
Motorway to run from the North to the South of Viêt
Nam. The two-lane road will be asphalted, wide
enough for four vehicles to run abreast, and will
lead to economic growth. The parallel roads will
have a total length of 5,000 km; they start from
Road Nº 7 in Diên Châu District, Nghê An Province
and reach the Southernmost part of Nam (p.98) Bô. It
has been planned that the Truòng Son Road will be
completed in 2000. But because of Storm Nº 5 that
devastated Nam Bô in 1997, the Vietnamese Government
must concentrate its budget on overcoming the
consequences of the calamity and the project has
been postponed for the time being. (p.99)
Under Resolution 38/20047QH11 dated 3 December 2004
of the National Assembly and the master plan for the
Ho Chi Minh Road, its construction is divided into
three phases: Phase 1 (2000-2007 was completed;
Phase 2 (2007-2010) is going on; and Phase 3 will
finish by 2020.> (p.99)
[Asphalted Ho Chi Minh Trail]
<The Ho Chi Minh Trail of yore [of former times]
is now composed of many branches and lines which
have been raised and asphalted to link populated
areas and economic zones, town and district
capitals. Driving on them is both practical and
pleasant thanks to a beautiful landscape of clouds
and mountains, slopes and passes, lakes and ponds,
and forests and mountains. It is really
picturesque.> (p.99)
[Cemeteries - rolling hills - lakes]
<Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the ethnic
minorities of [the mountain range of] Truòng Son at
the close of the 20th century, the tourist should
not forget to stop at the Truòng Son Cemetery, which
lies in an area of hills. It bears a historical
significance (because it was formerly a battlefield)
and will generate an emotional response in any
visitor. The rolling hills around the suspension
bridge across Bên Tat slope gently and create an
atmosphere of wild and majestic greatness that the
visitor will find enchanting. In the valley at the
foot of the hills, there are lakes for lotus growing
and fish rearing (p.99). The winding lanes on the
hills are bordered by shady pine trees and gracious
willows. (p.100)
The Truòng Son Cemetery was built 5 years ago
[1996]. It is regularly maintained and repaired and
continues to receive the remains of fallen soldiers
lying scattered in all the branches of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail, on the Truòng Son Range, and Laos and
Cambodia. Standing in the center of the cemetery is
an imposing granite monument to keep alive the
memory of the Truòng Son combatants. The graves have
a calm and gentle appearance; each has its tombstone
and is planted with grass and flowers. The tombs of
the those who died in the war from Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City [former name: Saigon] are arranged on the
central hills. Around are the tombs of the fallen
soldiers of Nghê An, Hà Tinh, Thái Bình, Nam Hà, Nam
Dinh, Ninh Bình, Vinh Phú, Phú Tho, Bác Ninh, Quang
Bình, Quang Tri, Thúa Thiên and Hà Tây. It can be
said that almost all parts of the country have
soldiers killed in the liberations war buried in
this cemetery.
The Truòng Son War Martyr Cemetery is situated in
Tân Biên District, Tây Ninh Province, about 100 km
from Ho Chi Minh City, in the West. The tourist can
come here from Ho Chi Minh City by bus or
motorcycle.> (p.100)
[All sufferings
-- with changing of genetics by Agent Orange and
deformed Agent Orange victims
-- with contamination of forests and hills by Agent
Orange
-- with landslides and changed local climate by
destroyed jungle
are not mentioned in the book of Koi and Gioi, but
other books are well mentionening these sufferings
of the local Vietnamese population provoked by Agent
Orange and other dioxin pesticides which do not stop
until today].
