Vietnam Today.
After the passage of fifty years, we cannot expect
Vietnam to look unchanged. Using google earth or maps, the places we
occupied look untouched by the violence and carnage of the war. Only an occassional airfield remains visible. The airfield at Tuy Hoa remains with
its aircraft bunkers, but the new terminal appears little used. Chu Lai
has an international airport - Google Maps has pictures of ancient ruins nearby. The runway at Long Thanh, where your
editor did his second tour, looks like a huge garden center; the rest of
the base disappeared. Our corner of Nha Trang vanished beneath a green
roofed complex long ago. The pavements now contain construction material
storage. The main runway, se-nw, now has a median with streetlights down
each side and down the median. That would discourage use, I think. The
large tropo-scatter telephone antennas remain just where they were. The
beaches at each major city have sprouted high rise resorts; indeed, the
west end of Hon Tre island contains a huge golf resort; Google Maps even
posts rates for you. If you need
to look:
click here to open Maps in a new window.
The 281st has had members return to look, and one who lives in the area. Click the links for the slide show and videos.
Coming soon - a collection of Ken's visit to Dalat and pics from
our two other "tourists".
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Page under construction.