Colored wall map of tunnels at Cu Chi used by Vietcong during Vietnam War
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- May 1997
- Location
- Cu Chi, Vietnam
- License
- This photograph copyright ©1997. Terms of use
See this photograph in context
- French colonization and Vietnam wars: Photographs and text tell the story of Vietnam under French colonial rule, its experience during twentieth-century wars with France and the United States, and its recent liberalization. (Page 17)
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A colored wall map depicts the underground tunnels at Cu Chi used by Communist fighters, or Vietcong, during the Vietnam War.
During the 1960s, Communist guerillas dug these narrow tunnels that ran for about seventy-five miles from the countryside in Cu Chi west of Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border. When the U.S. forces could not control the tunnel areas effectively with ground troops, they dropped B-52 bombs on the area, seriously damaging the tunnel network and nearby land.
At two sites in Cu Chi, about 45 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, the tunnels have been restored and are open for visitors. Tourists can enter some of the tunnels and examine supply storage areas as well as false entrances created to trick enemies. The tunnel sites and monuments are part of Vietnam’s recent efforts to develop “war tourism” for foreigners interested in Vietnam War history.
