“The Ho Chi Minh Trail was of immense strategic importance. It’s effectiveness greatly contributed to the US and Australia’s eventual withdrawal and the fall of Saigon in 1975,” writes Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS.

“Join the army and see the next world.” –Dylan Thomas

“The quickest way to end a war is to lose it.” –George Orwell

I assume that most people know about the wartime Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam, but in case not, here’s a potted history.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a vast and complex network of roads, tracks, and paths that ran from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam. Named after North Vietnam’s leader Ho Chi Minh, the trail played a critical role in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), serving as the primary supply route for troops, weapons, food and equipment going south to support the Viet Cong insurgents in South Vietnam.

Stretching over 16,000 kilometres at its peak, the trail was not a single path but a constantly evolving web of routes that adapted to intense US bombing campaigns and changing military needs. (The actual distance from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is around 1700 kilometres.) 

Engineers and workers, many of them volunteers, and many of them women, worked tirelessly to build roads, bridges and bypasses through dense jungle and rugged mountains, often under the cover of night to avoid airstrikes. Camouflaged supply depots, underground bunkers and even fuel pipelines were developed along the route to maintain the flow of logistics.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was of immense strategic importance. Despite the challenges of developing and maintaining it – including harsh terrain, diseases, and relentless aerial bombardment – it enabled North Vietnam to sustain a prolonged guerrilla campaign in the south. 

The trail’s effectiveness greatly contributed to the US and Australia’s eventual withdrawal and the fall of Saigon in 1975, leading to the reunification of Vietnam under Communist rule.

Today, remnants of the Ho Chi Minh Trail still exist, with some sections transformed into modern roads. For historians and travellers alike, the trail is a symbol of endurance, resistance and the human cost of war. 

What the Vietnam War demonstrates is that a highly motivated local insurgency with public support will invariably outlast an external power’s attempt to destroy it.

In Vietnam’s case the external powers included France, the US and China, all of whom were militarily more powerful than their Vietnamese opposition – but lacked the motivation and staying power to prevail.

My current interest is in using a trail bike (no pun intended) to follow the Ho Chi Minh trail and visit the battlefields along the way. The best time to do it weatherwise is March. The only problem so far is finding volunteers to join me! (Interested? Email Clive via editor@citynews.com.au)

On a lighter note: Three constables are applying for a position as police detective. 

The chief calls in the first applicant and says: “Before reassignment, you have to pass a little test. I’m going to show you a mugshot of a suspect whom we know to be shortsighted; but can you tell me something more about him based on the photo.” 

The chief hands the first applicant the photo. The applicant studies it for a moment, then says: “Easy, the suspect only has one eye!”

The chief, puzzled, looks at the photo, then says: “Are you crazy?! This is a profile picture! Of course you can only see one eye! Get out of here!”

So, the chief calls in the second applicant and gives him the same photo. The applicant says: “The suspect only has one ear!” 

The chief blows up: “Have none of you heard of a profile picture! Get out of here!” 

He calls in the third applicant and says: “Now, before you say anything, I want you to think carefully… what can you tell me about this suspect?”

The third applicant studies the photo intensely, then says: “This man wears contact lenses.” 

The chief is taken aback. He excuses himself and goes to look at the suspect’s file where he’s pleasantly surprised to discover the suspect does indeed wear contact lenses. 

He returns to the interview room and says: “You’re right… but how did you deduce from this photo that the suspect wears contact lenses?” 

The applicant replies: “Well, he can’t wear regular glasses since he only has only one ear!”

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist