First of all, I need to correct a couple errors from previous posts. The city of Saigon is actually over 9,000,000 residents now. The Rex Hotel, that we are staying at here in Saigon, is actually a 5 Star Hotel and not 4 Stars as I previously stated. Today was another great day on our trip. After Breakfast here at the Hotel, we departed at just before 7:00 AM, for a trip out to Tay Ninh to visit the famous Black Virgin Mountain. This mountain could be seen by most all Americans who served in III Corps. We departed Saigon on Highway 22, heading northeast. We ran directly into the Monday morning Saigon rush hour traffic. It took us nearly an hour and fifteen minutes to clear the city and get on our way to Tay Ninh. Since we had WiFi on our bus, I had an opportunity to do a quick Facetime with my Daughter Allyson. The wonders of modern communications! On the way we stopped at a church and the home of Kim Phuk. She was the 9 year old Vietnamese girl that was caught in an ARVN napalm attack and had her clothes completely burned off her body. One of the most iconic photos of the war is of this young girl, fleeing in panic from Tay Ninh, on Highway 22. Our media in the US seized upon the picture to make points for its anti war bias and the photo was published worldwide. Fortunately, she was able to survive her injuries. Eventually, the North Vietnamese and VC used her as a poster girl to make the US and ARVN look bad. It was no more than an accident that is all to frequent in war, but the above decided to use the incident for propaganda. Even after the war ended, the new regime sent her all over the world to make speeches. Eventually, she was sent to live in Cuba, where she was naturally welcomed with open arms by Castro. She eventually graduated from Medical School there, but the Vietnamese Government continued to use her for their purposes. While she was attending an event in Canada on behalf of the Vietnamese Government, she escaped her handlers and was given political asylum in Canada. She married a Canadian citizen, and lives in Canada to this day. After a trip of a little over 3 hours, we finally arrived at the foot of the Black Virgin Mountain. Even though US and ARVN forces occupied the summit for most of the war, the VC and NVA were able to pretty much always hold some territory on the slopes. Nowadays, the government still views this as a site of another of their "heroic victories". There is a Cable Car system that goes about two thirds of the way to the summit. Their is a sacred shrine there to the Black Virgin that the mountain is named for. At that elevation, there is an amazing panorama of a large portion of III Corps. One of my former base areas in Quan Loi can be made out to the north, north west of our vantage point. Between the mountain and the general area of Quan Loi, there is now a large man made lake that has formed in a lowland area. The lake is a result of the construction of a hydro electric dam on the Dong Nai River. It appears that nearly all of Vietnam's electricity is generated from water power. I was disappointed to not actually get to visit Quan Loi, but even a two week trip has limitations on how many places you can go. Maybe next time! After our visit, we headed into Tay Ninh City for Lunch, in one of the city's best restaurants. Mostly Vietnamese cuisine, but very tasty and diverse. Then it was back to the bus for a trip to Cu Chi. This entire region, except for the cities, is mile upon mile of all types of agriculture. Although most work still seems as manual as when I was here long ago, there is some mechanization and occasional tractors and modern farm machinery to be seen now. The purpose of our visit to Cu Chi was to visit the renowned tunnel complex that is there. Construction began in the late 1940's there, as resistance to French colonization and occupation was gaining traction among the Viet Minh. They were an earlier predecessor of the Viet Cong, who we fought against. Work continued on the complex after the French were defeated and resistance gathered to the South Vietnamese Government that came into being when North and South Vietnam were split at the 17th parallel in 1954. The complex is really amazing. It has three distinct levels at 3, 8, and 30 feet. It was used as a major staging area by the VC and contained everything from workshops to kitchens, barracks, and hospital. The ARVN had know of the existence of the complex from the beginning, but were never able to fully expose and eliminate it. The same was true when the Americans arrived. In fact, parts of the US 25th Infantry Division had bases directly over this complex of well camouflaged tunnels. As with the ARVN before them, US Forces were able to at times expose parts of the complex and kill many VC soldiers, but never were able to fully eliminate it. When US Forces put pressure on the area, the VC that could get away, slipped away into their sanctuaries is nearby Cambodia. The soil in this area has a very high clay content that caused the tunnels to harden after they were excavated, making them very difficult to destroy - even with B52 strikes. Not unexpectedly the current government has made this another of the sites of their "heroic victories". As you enter the complex, as it has been maintained today, there is a below ground theater that shows an extremely anti American and ARVN propaganda video. It is far afield and mostly complete falsehood, even by the standards of the current government we have been subjected to during our visit. Our group walked out in unison after only a couple minutes of the video! After touring the rest of the complex, it was back to the bus for a near two and a half hour trip back to Saigon. The two cities are only about 25 miles apart, but again we hit rush hour traffic as we reached the outskirts of Saigon. We again had Dinner in the private Vertical Garden Club at our hotel. The meal was a five course traditional Vietnamese dinner. We also had entertainment during the meal from native Vietnamese Dancers and Musicians. We will be leaving for the airport in Saigon at 3:00 PM tomorrow, for our trip back to the US. I will not make my final entry until I arrive back home, late PM on April 18. We get into LA at 9:55 PM local time on April 17. Due to our late arrival in LA, we stay the night at a hotel at the Airport. My last entry should appear by April 20. I hope all who have taken the time to read my Blog have found it of interest.

Saigon Monday morning traffic.

More Saigon traffic, as seen from our bus.

Church and Shrine dedicated to Kim Phuk - the napalm victim.

Kim Phuk's home in Tay Ninh.

Cloud shrouded view, as we approached the Black Virgin Mountain.

This is the Vietnamese name for the Black Virgin Mountain.

View of the mountain from the parking lot at the base where we got tickets for the tram.

View to the north, northwest from the top of the tramway. The man made lake is barely visible, due to the haze. My former Base Camp at Quan Loi lies just beyond.

Panorama of III Corps as seen from cable car ascending Black Virgin.

Another view of III Corps from the mountain.

Map of the Cu Chi Tunnel Complex.

Our Guide Phai describing the map of the Cu Chi area. The blue area above his right shoulder is the actual complex. The area of tunnels was generally about 1.7 Km square. A really amazing engineering feat!

This is a picture of an underground hospital tunnel that has been partially excavated for demonstration purposes. Some of the original overhead cover and camouflage has been left intact. In many cases, air and ventilation was provided through naturally occuring ant hills that dotted the area and didn't seem out of the ordinary to American and ARVN Soldiers who were all over the area!