Behind me is a field of craters, the remnants of the bombs the US air force dropped here during the Vietnam War.
Coming here as an American....
Because...this is related to my country, these holes are due to the bombs MY country dropped here...
And MY country harmed the people here....
It's really saddening.
The Vietnam War was one of the most intense parts of American-Vietnamese history.
Even until now, it still holds the world record for the most bombs ever dropped during a war.
And 50,000 of those bombs were dropped here, at the Dong Loc t-junction, in Ha Tinh province.
Today I left Vinh and came here to see the result of this bloody war with my country.
And to see how this place allowed Vietnam to win the war.
That's the honor and the sacrifice, of all warriors, related to history.
Journey Across Vietnam: The Dong Loc Junction
Today I'm here at the Dong Loc junction, in Ha Tinh province of Vietnam.
For me to visit the historical site known as "The 10 Girls"
You may or may not have heard of this place (I'll explain)
During the war, this place was super important to Ho Chi Minh and the north of Vietnam.
For you to understand the importance of Dong Loc, you need to look at the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
As of present, it's just a single rode that goes from the north to the south of Vietnam.
But, during the war, it was an entire network of military roads,
that went through central Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese military would have to take different roads, depending on the conditions.
Because America would drop thousands of bombs along the trail, leaving some roads damaged.
Dong Loc was especially important.
First, this place is almost directly in the center of Vietnam.
So when the northern Vietnamese military needed to send goods to the south, they would pass Dong Loc.
Because the US air force dropped so many bombs, some roads would be uncrossable due to the giant craters.
So they would have to use another road.
And this place, right. here, happened to be a hub that connected many of those roads together.
So when the US air force found that out, they decided to drop thousands of bombs here.
You can see in this field, there are still some bombs that the Vietnamese government has preserved.
In just a single day, this place could see up to 800 bombs. 800 bombs, in a single day. That's one every 7 seconds.
In order to combat this, the northern Vietnamese govenrment enlisted "Youth Pioneers" to help.
They would fix the holes in the road, to ensure the northern military could continue to travel along the roads.
But...every 7 seconds guys... a bomb would hit the ground here.
It was an extremely dangerous job.
And so that's why this place is called "The 10 Girls",
because a group of 10 young girls lost their lives to the American bombs.
On the 24th of July, 1968,
the 10 girls were hiding from bombs in an underground shelter, just like everyday.
and just like everyday, they were working to fix the holes.
The American military dropped a bomb, just meters from where they were hiding, killing them all.
I have family that were actually here in Vietnam during the war, so being here is a strange feeling.
Coming here to Dong Loc, I felt really sad at first, to see the consequences of war.
Many of the girls were my exact age or younger when they died, and lived through a lot more.
Duong Thi Xuan, 21
Ha Thi Xanh, 19
Ho Thi Cuc, 24
Nguyen Thi Nho, 24
Nguyen Thi Xuan, 20
Tran Thi Huong, 19
Tran Thi Rang, 18
Vo Thi Ha, 17
Vo Thi Hoi, 20
Vo Thi Tan, 24
Looking at this bomb hole, I feel....
I can't even begin to imagine what it was like at that time.
Especially, even now...
Dong Loc still isn't very developed.
So how was it back during 1968?
The families were so poor, but they still had to live through that, and. sacrifice themselves for a war.
It's really saddening.
However, I also feel happy knowing that no matter the history between our countries,
I can now come to Vietnam, and I'm welcomed as a friend.
Could you take a picture for us? (Not a problem)
How do you want us to stand?
Thanks for watching! English subtitles will end here.