The A Shau Valley (Vietnamese: ''thung lũng A Sầu'') is a valley in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
's
Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, west of the coastal city of
Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and adm ...
, along the border of
Laos. The valley runs north and south for 40 kilometers and is a 1.5-kilometer-wide flat bottomland covered with tall
elephant grass The term Elephant grass may refer to the following grass species:
* The Asian '' Miscanthus giganteus'', also known as giant miscanthus, commonly used as a biomass crop
* The African '' Cenchrus purpureus'', also known as Napier grass, Uganda grass ...
, flanked by two densely forested mountain ridges whose summits vary in elevation from 900 to 1,800 meters. A Shau Valley was one of the key entry points into
South Vietnam for men and material brought along the
Ho Chi Minh trail by the
North Vietnamese Army
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
and was the scene of heavy fighting during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The A Shau Valley is bisected lengthwise by Route 548.
The
Ho Chi Minh Highway
Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway ( vi, Đường Hồ Chí Minh, links=no) is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh.
History
The route r ...
now runs along the valley floor.
See also
*
Battle of A Shau
The Battle of A Shau (Vietnamese: trận A Sầu) was waged in early 1966 during the Vietnam War between the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the forces of the United States and South Vietnam. The battle began on March 9 and lasted until March ...
*
Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
The Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord was a 23-day battle between elements of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and two reinforced divisions of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that took place from 1 to 23 July 1970. It was the last ma ...
*
Battle of Hamburger Hill
The Battle of Hamburger Hill (13–20 May 1969) was a battle of the Vietnam War that was fought by US Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces against People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces during Operation Apache Snow. Though th ...
*
Battle of Signal Hill Vietnam
The Battle of Signal Hill was a company size engagement between members of Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP) long-range reconnaissance patrol of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) from 19–21 April 1968 d ...
*
Dong Ap Bia
Dong Ap Bia ( vi, Đồi A Bia, Ap Bia Mountain) is a mountain on the Laotian border of South Vietnam in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province.
Rising from the floor of the western A Shau Valley, it is a looming, solitary massif, unconnected to the r ...
*
Dong Re Lao Mountain
*
Operation Apache Snow
*
Operation Delaware
*
Operation Dewey Canyon
*
Operation Somerset Plain
Operation Somerset Plain was a joint military operation conducted by the United States and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the A Sầu Valley from 4–20 August 1968.
Background
The A Sầu Valley was a vital corridor for moving mi ...
References
External links
Battlefields in Vietnam
Landforms of Thừa Thiên Huế province
Valleys of Vietnam
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