[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.37,0:00:16.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Deep in the jungles of Vietnam,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.99,0:00:18.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soldiers from both sides
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.56,0:00:20.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,battled heat exhaustion and each other
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.23,0:00:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for nearly 20 long years.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.10,0:00:23.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the key to Communist victory
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.53,0:00:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wasn't weapons or stamina,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.05,0:00:26.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was a dirt road.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.88,0:00:28.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Ho Chi Minh Trail,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.31,0:00:30.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,winding through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.83,0:00:33.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,started as a simple network of dirt roads
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.34,0:00:35.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and blossomed into the centerpiece
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.03,0:00:37.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the winning North Vietnamese strategy
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.05,0:00:38.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,during the Vietnam War,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.45,0:00:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,supplying weapons,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.48,0:00:40.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,troops,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.35,0:00:42.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and psychological support to the South.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.46,0:00:43.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The trail was a network of tracks,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.75,0:00:44.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dirt roads,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.43,0:00:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and river crossings
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.58,0:00:47.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that threaded west out of North Vietnam
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.67,0:00:50.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and south along the Truong Son Mountain Range
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.50,0:00:51.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between Vietnam and Laos.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.96,0:00:54.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The journey to the South originally took six months.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.42,0:00:56.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, with engineering and ingenuity,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.21,0:00:59.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Vietnamese expanded and improved the trail.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.04,0:01:00.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Towards the end of war,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.29,0:01:02.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the main roads detoured through Laos,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.30,0:01:03.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it only took one week.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.92,0:01:05.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here is how it happened.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.09,0:01:08.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1959, as relations deteriorated
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.26,0:01:10.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the North and the South,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.24,0:01:13.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a system of trails was constructed in order to infiltrate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.27,0:01:17.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soldiers, weapons, and supplies into South Vietnam.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.16,0:01:19.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first troops moved in single-file
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.19,0:01:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,along routes used by local ethnic groups,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.84,0:01:24.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and broken tree branches at dusty crossroads
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.23,0:01:26.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were often all that indicated the direction.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.86,0:01:29.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Initially, most of the Communist cadres
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.32,0:01:30.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who came down the trail
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.28,0:01:33.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were Southerners by birth who had trained in North Vietnam.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.31,0:01:34.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They dressed like civilian peasants
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.75,0:01:37.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in black, silk pajamas with a checkered scarf.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.23,0:01:39.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They wore Ho Chi Minh sandals on their feet,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.09,0:01:40.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cut from truck tires,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.50,0:01:42.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and carried their ration of cooked rice
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.38,0:01:44.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in elephants' intestines,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.12,0:01:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a linen tube hung around the body.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.17,0:01:47.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The conditions were harsh
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.31,0:01:49.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and many deaths were caused by exposure,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.30,0:01:50.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,malaria,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.34,0:01:51.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and amoebic dysentery.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.91,0:01:52.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Getting lost,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.60,0:01:53.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,starving to death,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.82,0:01:56.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the possibility of attacks by wild tigers or bears
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.85,0:01:58.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were constant threats.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.23,0:02:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meals were invariably just rice and salt,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.40,0:02:01.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was easy to run out.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.94,0:02:04.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fear, boredom, and homesickness
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.15,0:02:05.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were the dominant emotions.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.32,0:02:07.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And soldiers occupied their spare time
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.28,0:02:08.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by writing letters,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.30,0:02:09.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,drawing sketches,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.40,0:02:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and drinking and smoking with local villagers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.96,0:02:13.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first troops down the trail
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.29,0:02:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did not engage in much fighting.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.96,0:02:17.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And after an exhausting six month trip,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.06,0:02:19.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,arriving in the South was a real highlight,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.31,0:02:21.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often celebrated by bursting into song.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.79,0:02:25.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1965, the trip down the trail could be made by truck.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.09,0:02:27.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thousands of trucks supplied by China and Russia
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.67,0:02:31.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took up the task amidst ferocious B-52 bombing
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.48,0:02:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and truck drivers became known as pilots of the ground.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.43,0:02:36.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As traffic down the trail increased,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.36,0:02:37.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so did the U.S. bombing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.77,0:02:39.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They drove at night or in the early morning
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.73,0:02:41.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to avoid air strikes,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.22,0:02:42.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and watchmen were ready
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.31,0:02:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to warn drivers of enemy aircraft.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.32,0:02:46.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Villages along the trail organized teams
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.69,0:02:48.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to guarantee traffic flow
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.03,0:02:51.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to help drivers repair damage caused by air attacks.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.11,0:02:52.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their catch cries were,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.32,0:02:54.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Everything for our Southern brothers!"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.14,0:02:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, "We will not worry about our houses
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.54,0:02:58.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if the vehicles have not yet gotten through."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.75,0:03:00.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some families donated their doors
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.29,0:03:02.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wooden beds to repair roads.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.64,0:03:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vietnamese forces even used deception
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.00,0:03:07.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get the U.S. aircraft to bomb mountainsides
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.52,0:03:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to make gravel for use
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.10,0:03:11.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in building and maintaining roads.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.17,0:03:14.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The all-pervading red dust seeped into every nook and cranny.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.67,0:03:16.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Ho Chi Minh Trail had a profound impact
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.66,0:03:17.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the Vietnam War
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.77,0:03:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was the key to Hanoi's success.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.98,0:03:22.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,North Vietnamese victory was not determined by the battlefields,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.73,0:03:24.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but by the trail,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.14,0:03:25.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was the political,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.07,0:03:25.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strategic,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.61,0:03:27.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and economic lynchpin.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.07,0:03:28.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Americans recognized its achievement,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.86,0:03:29.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,calling the trail,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.74,0:03:31.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"One of the great achievements
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.07,0:03:33.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in military engineering of the 20th century."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.33,0:03:35.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The trail is a testimony to the strength of will
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.16,0:03:36.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Vietnamese people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.28,0:03:37.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the men and women who used the trail
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.80,0:03:39.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have become folk heros.