- Ho Chi Minh Trail is one way of understanding the nature of war that the Vietnamese fought against the US. It has a great significance.
- It symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to great advantage.
- The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from north to south.
- The trail was improved from the late 1950s and from 1967 about 20000 North Vietnamese troops came to south each month on this trail.
- This had support bases and hospitals along the way. In most of the parts, supplies were carried by porters. Trucks were also used.
- Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam.
- The US regularly bombed this trail with an aim to disrupt supplies but efforts to destroy the supply line by intensive bombing failed because they were rebuilt quickly.