“Good morning Vietnam…”
Adrian Cronauer
During the American War in Vietnam, Da Nang was an important US base. It had a major military airstrip, an important American surgical hospital, and the local beaches were a favourite GI R&R destination. This region also had significant Viet Cong operatives and sympathisers, covertly living in the local villages. The guerrilla war that they conducted was a major problem for the Americans. The Marble Mountains jut abruptly from the landscape, only a kilometre or so from the site of the US airstrips. The steep approaches to these mountains, the narrow winding steps, the tight passageways, and the complex cave systems, proved impossible for the Americans to ever gain control over. They were however, perfect for the Viet Cong. This is the Huyen Khong Cave, deep in the largest of the Marble Mountains. Here the Viet Cong cared for their wounded. Injured VC could not return to their homes or attend local health care clinics. In this cave they were protected, triaged, stabilised and at times operated on. Those that survived were transferred a few days later to more formal hospitals in the North. #thecavehospital #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 