Places / Special national relic
Đá Đẽo Pass
A pass on the Trường Sơn road that was bombed for seven years, now a special national relic.
Transcript
You are on Đá Đẽo Pass, on the old Trường Sơn trail, today the Hồ Chí Minh Road.
The terrain left no room for a bypass, so cutting the pass would cut the whole supply line.
From 1965 to 1972, US aircraft bombed the pass almost continuously.
Engineers, youth volunteers and civilian workers held the pass day and night, filling craters, defusing bombs and guiding trucks through.
Đá Đẽo is a special national relic. If you stop, you can light incense at the memorial.
Đá Đẽo Pass runs for about 17 km over the limestone range between Minh Hóa and Bố Trạch, on the old Route 15A, today the Hồ Chí Minh Road. In the American War it was called a choke point of the supply line: the terrain left no room for a bypass, so cutting the pass would cut the whole route.
From 1965 to 1972, US aircraft and naval guns bombed the pass almost continuously, dropping thousands of tonnes of bombs. Army engineers, youth volunteers and civilian workers held the pass day and night, filling craters, defusing delayed-action bombs and guiding trucks through. Engineer Battalion 24 (Group 559) held the pass from 1968 to 1972 and was named a Hero of the People's Armed Forces. Youth volunteer Đinh Thị Thu Hiệp, who devised new ways to clear delayed-action bombs, was named a Hero in 1972.
The pass is part of the Trường Sơn – Hồ Chí Minh Road historic site, ranked a special national relic by Decision 2383/QĐ-TTg of 9 December 2013. The road has since been widened and its hairpins take two lanes; a stone memorial at the summit, in Kim Phú commune, marks one of the fiercest targets of the war.
- ~17 km
- length of the pass
- 1965–1972
- under constant bombing
- 2013
- special national relic
Things to do
- Stop at the summit memorial and light incense
- Look out over the Trường Sơn range from the hairpin bends
- Stop on the way from Phong Nha to Tân Hóa
Frequently asked
Where is Đá Đẽo Pass?
On the Hồ Chí Minh Road between Phong Nha and Tân Hóa; you cross it on the way into Kim Phú. The memorial at the summit is in Kim Phú commune.
Is Đá Đẽo Pass a national relic?
Yes. It is part of the Trường Sơn – Hồ Chí Minh Road historic site, ranked a special national relic by Decision 2383/QĐ-TTg of 9 December 2013.