Saigon River Valley: A Navigation, Trade, Mitigation, Invasion, Liberation, and Unification Pathway

Abstract

The Saigon River is located in southern Vietnam with headwaters starting in southeastern Cambodia. The river flows southeast for about 225 km to the South China Sea. Most readers of Vietnam’s history know about the American-Vietnam War (1965-1973). However, centuries before that time, Vietnam fought with the Chinese, the Khmers, the Chams and the Mongols. The history of Vietnam begins in the Red River Delta, where farmers first cultivated rice. A millenia of struggle against the Chinese then followed. The Saigon River Valley was the pathway used by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) to get from the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia to Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive. The NVA dug Cu Chi and Iron Triangle soil tunnels near Cu Chi in the Old Alluvium terrace to hide from American Forces and Air Force bombers. In 1962, the Tan Son Nhut Air Force base on the northern edge of Saigon received the first shipments of Agent Blue, the arsenic based herbicide, used to destroy the rice crop. The most dioxin TCDD and arsenic contaminated site in Vietnam was Bien Hoa Air Force base on the Saigon River just 30 km northeast east of Ho Chi Minh City. The adjacent Bien Hoa City has a population of over 800,000. The Port of Ho Chi Minh City is the most significant river port in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The river is navigable by ships which draft up to 9 m. Vietnam only became a united country in the 19th century. Its independence was soon affected by French colonialism and then the destructive American intervention in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War Archive no. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City houses residual correspondence between the Republic of Vietnam (RV) President Diem’s administration and US President Kennedy’s administration related to the Khai Huang program (hamlet strategy). In addition, the archive contains some of the tactical herbicide spray records of the RV military for the Mekong Delta. The primary objective this study is to document the role that the Saigon River Valley played, in modern warfare. The Saigon River Valley was used as a navigation, trade, invasion, liberation and unification pathway. The Vietnamese people have survived centuries of stormy, troubled times and their power of character has served them well.