Ho Chi Minh Trail - Present day -

[Saigon1965]

A Vietnam Vet friend shared this with me -

Thank you Major Vasey - Senior Advisor 1st Service Battalion - Saigon -

Enjoy -

http://www.laosgpsmap.com/ho-chi-minh-trail-laos/

[ccandgc]

This was posted on the CMP forum....fantastic pictures and definitely worth the 2nd look....

[Vlad 11]

Wow .. incredible bike trip

[bruceflinch]

Nice Post, Lu!

[Justin Case]

Nice. Thanks for posting

[GOEX FFF]

Fascinating stuff. Now imagine what kinds of other things that are perfectly preserved in undiscovered and sealed up in tunnels like crates of small arms and other ordnance left over by the NVA. Boggles my mind what there's still left to be found underground.

I also wonder how many of these scrap metal hunters have been taken out by unexploded mines, booby traps, tiger traps and punji pits that are still out there too.

[FourTenJaeger]

Originally Posted by GOEX FFF

Fascinating stuff. Now imagine what kinds of other things that are perfectly preserved in undiscovered and sealed up in tunnels like crates of small arms and other ordnance left over by the NVA. Boggles my mind what there's still left to be found underground.

I also wonder how many of these scrap metal hunters have been taken out by unexploded mines, booby traps, tiger traps and punji pits that are still out there too.

Don't tell Mitchell's mausers.

Last ones EVER!!!

Until we ''find'' more that were buried exclusively for the highest ranking NVA Generals who were secretly co-conspiring with US Special ops forces to take down the whole nation of Vietnam!

[GOEX FFF]

Originally Posted by FremontJames

Don't tell Mitchell's mausers.

Last ones EVER!!!

Until we ''find'' more that were buried exclusively for the highest ranking NVA Generals who were secretly co-conspiring with US Special ops forces to take down the whole nation of Vietnam!

HAHA, QFT


Not to /thread

But Kinda like this?
BTW. I made this image back in the early 2000's during the golden age of surplus ammo days when it was pouring in, the actual prices shown reflect those times. There were wearings from the big ammo suppliers that ammo was drying up, so buy now! Then the next month or so, BOOM, tons more. It was a roller coaster like this for a couple years. lol

[Marcus von W.]

Originally Posted by FremontJames

Don't tell Mitchell's mausers.

Last ones EVER!!!

Until we ''find'' more that were buried exclusively for the highest ranking NVA Generals who were secretly co-conspiring with US Special ops forces to take down the whole nation of Vietnam!

Quick, "Dishonest Don" Mitchell, go get yourself a bunch of those Chinese SKS rifles coming in from Albania, then buff 'em, shine 'em, refinish 'em, make all the parts match, mount a cheap Chinese replica/fake PU scope setup, and start pimping "Historic Battle of Khe Sahn Viet Cong General's Sniper Rifles"..... for only $4,9999!

"A Mitchell's Mausers Exclusive!"

"The Last remaining ones in the world, discovered by in a hidden VC bunker under Ho Chi Minh's jungle headquarters by Don "Indiana Jones" Mitchell himself".

"Hurry! For a limited time you can get the original accessories (a Soviet SKS ammo pouch, Chinese SKS sling, buttstock cleaning kit, oiler, and a couple SKS stripper clips) - a $200 value - free with the purchase of one of these historic rifles!"

[smle-man]

1. Those guys are lucky to have survived their trip with the risky habit of picking up ordnance laying about. I wouldn't trust any label saying it had been disarmed.

2. Every picture of a destroyed NVA truck or tank brought a smile to my face.

[SuperSet]

Originally Posted by smle-man

1. Those guys are lucky to have survived their trip with the risky habit of picking up ordnance laying about. I wouldn't trust any label saying it had been disarmed.

This! The countryside is littered with UXO and people are killed or injured every year. War is hell.

[patriot_man]

Originally Posted by GOEX FFF

Fascinating stuff. Now imagine what kinds of other things that are perfectly preserved in undiscovered and sealed up in tunnels like crates of small arms and other ordnance left over by the NVA. Boggles my mind what there's still left to be found underground.

I also wonder how many of these scrap metal hunters have been taken out by unexploded mines, booby traps, tiger traps and punji pits that are still out there too.

I wonder if there are remnants of the booby trapped ammo left by MACV-SOG. That'd be a blast to shoot.

[GOEX FFF]

Originally Posted by patriot_man

I wonder if there are remnants of the booby trapped ammo left by MACV-SOG. That'd be a blast to shoot.

Yeah really,

Apparently it still goes on today -

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/10...civil-war.html

[smirnus3000]

Very cool read thanks for posting that up!

[smirnus3000]

Very cool read thanks for posting that up!

[One78Shovel]

Thanks for the pics

-178S

[patriot_man]

Also that M3A1 they found... Wow.

Gets me really curious to what the story was behind it is.

[MrTokarev]

Originally Posted by patriot_man

Also that M3A1 they found... Wow.

Gets me really curious to what the story was behind it is.

Good Lord, think of the stories we'd hear if our guns could talk.

[Chaos47]

Very cool photos, thanks for posting!

[Dark Sky Solutions]

Tagged for a read


Sent from my IPad so... Ease off the spelling

[NorCalXJ]

My next vacation

[renardsubtil]

Originally Posted by NorCalXJ

My next vacation

I highly recommend it.

[VegasND]

Very cool link.

Thanks Lu.

[Rem222]

Thanks for the link !!! I heard the name Ho Chi Minh Trail many times in CIC on Midway in 71.....

[chris]

great photos

[bigcasino]

wow great stuff!! I have spent time in Lao and Cambodia in some of these area but didnt know all the history that you have here. It always amazed me how they reuse all the war scrap to better them self. There is a guy near the guesthouse I stay at in Vientiane that has 3 old jeeps from the war, jeeping is a hobby of mine and I always wanted to move there and restore them when I retire. Very beautiful country and nice people. Thanks for shareing with us.

[Marcus von W.]

People are killed every year in Europe by unexploded ordnance from WW1 and WW2, and every now and then someone here gets the bright idea to drill into a Civil War cannonball they found buried in a field or in the mud at the bottom of a creek bed and finds out just how long something like that can remain "live" and dangerous.

I was in northern Thailand several years ago with a friend whose wife is from one of the hill tribes there, and up in Ching Rai I discovered a forlorn and battered, but still highly restorable, Viet Nam War era military Jeep sitting in a field. Being a die hard Jeep lover who at the time had a couple WW2 Ford GPW Jeeps at home, I would have loved to acquire it, bring it home, and restore it. But it just wasn't economically feasible. Sad, seeing a piece of automotive and military history sitting there rusting away.

You still see a lot of those perforated steel runway plates laying around over there or being used for various things...another legacy of that war.

My brother in law was an Air Force Intelligence officer during the Viet Nam War. He was one of the people who came up with the idea of "wiring the Ho Chi Minh Trail for sound" with sensors so we could tell when Charlie was moving trucks and other stuff and go shoot it up. This cost him his status as a pilot while he was "in country", as the Air Force could not risk him being shot down or having a forced landing and ending up in enemy hands, as he knew where all the sensors were. So he could only fly when he was in Japan or Thailand. I'll have to forward a link to this site to him..... he would probably find it interesting and it might bring back some memories.

His best friend was shot down by enemy. The VC horribly tortured him and the other guy in the plane over the radio, which everyone back at the base had to listen to while trying to triangulate on the signal and send in a rescue force. As soon as they had located the crash site and were inserting the rescue guys, the Commies murdered both prisoners and disappeared back into the jungle. So both these guys come back in body bags, and my brother in law has to deal with personally notifying his friend's family of his demise. Then Hanoi Jane Fonda (the one who posted in the commie hat by the Russian anti-aircraft gun and said of our own U.S. Air Force "I wish I had those murderers in my sights!") comes on the radio with her little bullschitt spiel about what criminal murderers we are, how the "peace and freedom loving Vietnamese people will win", and talking other trash about our Air Force. Needless to say, in my family we have no love for that communist traitor bitsch.

[bbogert]

Originally Posted by Marcus von W.

People are killed every year in Europe by unexploded ordnance from WW1 and WW2, and every now and then someone here gets the bright idea to drill into a Civil War cannonball they found buried in a field or in the mud at the bottom of a creek bed and finds out just how long something like that can remain "live" and dangerous.

I was in northern Thailand several years ago with a friend whose wife is from one of the hill tribes there, and up in Ching Rai I discovered a forlorn and battered, but still highly restorable, Viet Nam War era military Jeep sitting in a field. Being a die hard Jeep lover who at the time had a couple WW2 Ford GPW Jeeps at home, I would have loved to acquire it, bring it home, and restore it. But it just wasn't economically feasible. Sad, seeing a piece of automotive and military history sitting there rusting away.

You still see a lot of those perforated steel runway plates laying around over there or being used for various things...another legacy of that war.

My brother in law was an Air Force Intelligence officer during the Viet Nam War. He was one of the people who came up with the idea of "wiring the Ho Chi Minh Trail for sound" with sensors so we could tell when Charlie was moving trucks and other stuff and go shoot it up. This cost him his status as a pilot while he was "in country", as the Air Force could not risk him being shot down or having a forced landing and ending up in enemy hands, as he knew where all the sensors were. So he could only fly when he was in Japan or Thailand. I'll have to forward a link to this site to him..... he would probably find it interesting and it might bring back some memories.

His best friend was shot down by enemy. The VC horribly tortured him and the other guy in the plane over the radio, which everyone back at the base had to listen to while trying to triangulate on the signal and send in a rescue force. As soon as they had located the crash site and were inserting the rescue guys, the Commies murdered both prisoners and disappeared back into the jungle. So both these guys come back in body bags, and my brother in law has to deal with personally notifying his friend's family of his demise. Then Hanoi Jane Fonda (the one who posted in the commie hat by the Russian anti-aircraft gun and said of our own U.S. Air Force "I wish I had those murderers in my sights!") comes on the radio with her little bullschitt spiel about what criminal murderers we are, how the "peace and freedom loving Vietnamese people will win", and talking other trash about our Air Force. Needless to say, in my family we have no love for that communist traitor bitsch.

Jane Fonda is an idiot. Period.

[Manolito]

Today pictures and stories are pretty cool.

I was there in 66,67,and 68 second tour. it was not quite as cool then.

The return to Travis AFB was one I will never forget. Great bunch of people with signs outside the base voicing their first amendment rights.

No desire to return and spend my money supporting that country. Not bitter just a realist.

58,260 Rest in Peace.

[t0kie]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[smle-man]

Originally Posted by Manolito

Today pictures and stories are pretty cool.

I was there in 66,67,and 68 second tour. it was not quite as cool then.

The return to Travis AFB was one I will never forget. Great bunch of people with signs outside the base voicing their first amendment rights.

No desire to return and spend my money supporting that country. Not bitter just a realist.

58,260 Rest in Peace.

I feel about Vietnam the way my father was about Japan after WW2. I don't want anything to do with the government of Vietnam or its products. The Vietnamese people are great but I haven't forgiven the communist government for what they did to our people and theirs.

[ElvenSoul]

Now that was awesome!

[mj1]

It's changed a bit. Last link near Kontum I saw was a foot path and a stone ford but six months later it was three miles closer and built into a gravel one lane with a sunken bridge.

Thanks for the post.

[stand125]

In 2000 I went with Joint Task force Full accounting to escavate a F4C crash site along the trial in Laos ( the place we never went into ) and it was amazing to work and live in the jungle for a month. It gave me a whole new appreciation for what our guys had to endure and no one was shooting at me.

[Saigon1965]

I am glad everyone enjoyed the pictures albeit memories good or bad -

Here is a "Script" use as trade business on the trail - Found in weapons cache and brought back by Major Vasey circa 1972 -

The NVA had moved enough men south via the trail thus the need for script -

[Intimid8tor]

That was really an awesome journey of pics. Thanks for sharing.

[bbogert]

Awesome.

[bombadillo]

Thanks for sharing this. These are some astonishing photos.

[Theodore Edward]

SAT CONG. Still.