Posts
Nguyen Dan built the Ho Chi Minh Trail. -- Pierre Beauregard Photo
His name is Nguyen Dan (pronounced Wen Zan). He's 89 years old and
he's blind. In 1941 he fought the Japanese when they invaded Vietnam.
When the Japanese surrendered, the French returned and he fought them.
When the United States stuck its head into Vietnam affairs,
Dan fought them as well. In 1966, he was in charge of a project that
many military historians believe made what was then called North Vietnam
impossible to defeat --- he was in charge of building what would come
to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Despite the fact that the Laos
government had signed the 1962 Geneva Accords, the International Agreement on the Neutrality
of Laos and promised not to allow foreign armies to use its land, Dan says the Laos government gave a wink and a nod to
North Vietnam.
Because Vietnam had helped Laos in it's fight against
France, Laos agreed to look the other way and allow Dan's Engineer
Regiment to build the now famous, hidden highway through the mountainous
jungles of eastern Laos. Even though the U.S. dropped more bombs on
that part of Laos than they had dropped on Europe in World War II,
nothing could stop the North Vietnamese from sending hundreds of
thousands of soldiers, trucks, tanks, guns and munitions through Laos and Cambodia and into South Vietnam.
Dan described for us how U.S. aircraft poured Agent Orange over the
trail. They were soaking wet in the deadly goo. Then the rains came, he
said, and washed the Agent Orange into the streams --- streams they used
for bathing, cooking and even drinking.
It was the Agent Orange, the
doctors told him, that robbed him of his vision.
He welcomed us into
his home. We met his childhood bride --- the woman who also helped him
build the trail. He told us that he holds no animosity toward the United
States. He believes in peace. He asked me to tell the American people
that we should all live in peace. He told us that we are all residents
of the earth and that we are one. He called me his brother. He shook my
hand a dozen times and welcomed me in his Hanoi home whenever I wanted
to visit. I hope I can visit him again. After all, he's family. We're
all family.
| |||
| Nguyen Dan built the Ho Chi Minh Trail. -- Pierre Beauregard Photo |
His name is Nguyen Dan (pronounced Wen Zan). He's 89 years old and
he's blind. In 1941 he fought the Japanese when they invaded Vietnam.
When the Japanese surrendered, the French returned and he fought them.
When the United States stuck its head into Vietnam affairs,
Dan fought them as well. In 1966, he was in charge of a project that
many military historians believe made what was then called North Vietnam
impossible to defeat --- he was in charge of building what would come
to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Despite the fact that the Laos
government had signed the 1962 Geneva Accords, the International Agreement on the Neutrality
of Laos and promised not to allow foreign armies to use its land, Dan says the Laos government gave a wink and a nod to
North Vietnam.
Because Vietnam had helped Laos in it's fight against
France, Laos agreed to look the other way and allow Dan's Engineer
Regiment to build the now famous, hidden highway through the mountainous
jungles of eastern Laos. Even though the U.S. dropped more bombs on
that part of Laos than they had dropped on Europe in World War II,
nothing could stop the North Vietnamese from sending hundreds of
thousands of soldiers, trucks, tanks, guns and munitions through Laos and Cambodia and into South Vietnam.
Dan described for us how U.S. aircraft poured Agent Orange over the
trail. They were soaking wet in the deadly goo. Then the rains came, he
said, and washed the Agent Orange into the streams --- streams they used
for bathing, cooking and even drinking.
It was the Agent Orange, the
doctors told him, that robbed him of his vision.
