Ta Con Airport - Heroic evidence in the resurrected land of fire

(PLVN) - Located in the middle of the red basalt land of Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province, Ta Con airport is not only an important historical relic but also a vivid symbol of the indomitable fighting spirit of the Vietnamese army and people in the resistance war against the US to save the country.

Located in Hoa Thanh village, Tan Hop commune, Huong Hoa district, Ta Con airport has an area of ​​about 10,000m2, located in the middle of Khe Sanh base. With a valley terrain surrounded by hills and mountains, Ta Con airport was one of the strategic military bases of the US army in the years 1966-1968 at Khe Sanh battlefield.

This airport has an important strategic position in military terms not only on the Quang Tri battlefield but also in the whole Indochina region because it is located near the border, adjacent to Highway 9 connecting Dong Ha (Vietnam with Southern Laos). Therefore, Khe Sanh was used by the US military as a springboard for ground sweep operations.

Ta Con Airport was considered an invincible fortress by the US military.

This place became the take-off and landing point for armed helicopters, fighter jets and heavy military transport aircraft, serving the reconnaissance, signaling, bombing and blocking activities of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Reconnaissance planes inspected and pointed out many activities to destroy, block and cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Returning to Ta Con after more than half a century, visitors can witness with their own eyes the spoils of war that still bear the marks of time: an M48 tank lying quietly under the forest canopy, a UH-1A helicopter with a broken wing in the blue sky, or a rusty 155mm artillery piece – all seem to tell the heroic story of spring 1968.

US military bunker at Ta Con airport.

170 days and nights of fierce fighting, more than 17,000 American and Saigon soldiers were eliminated from the battle, 480 planes were destroyed, and a series of modern vehicles and equipment were destroyed.

The US military barracks are kept intact at Ta Con airport.

On July 9, 1968, our army's victory flag flew over the Ta Con airport base. The Route 9 - Khe Sanh campaign ended in resounding victory.

Small museum at Ta Con Airport Relic. Displayed here are many documents and artifacts related to the Route 9 – Khe Sanh Campaign.

Today, Ta Con airport is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Quang Tri.

A corner at the Route 9 - Khe Sanh Victory Museum

In addition to the artifacts displayed outdoors, the relic site also has a small museum - where hundreds of valuable artifacts, images, and maps associated with the Route 9 - Khe Sanh campaign are kept.

Some equipment of the Southern Liberation Army.

Museum with hundreds of valuable historical and scientific artifacts.

There are also many airplanes, helicopters, tanks, bomb shells and bullets on display. These are weapons and war vehicles that the US military used to fight in the Khe Sanh - Ta Con battlefield 57 years ago.

Types of bombs dropped by the US on western Quang Tri from 1965 to 1972.

Amidst the vast green of the mountains and forests, Ta Con airport still echoes the immortal epic of the time when “cutting through Truong Son to save the country”. There, history is not only recorded but also exists, alive and quietly passing on its fire to future generations.

Thao Nhi

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/san-bay-ta-con-chung-tich-hao-hung-giua-mien-dat-lua-hoi-sinh-post546799.html