Map 14 of Maps of SEA in the 1960s

On February 8th the 1967 TET truce went into effect in Vietnam .  President Johnson, attempting to stimulate meaningful peace negotiations, restricted American aircraft from bombing North Vietnam for five days and eighteen hours.  This was the longest bombing pause over North Vietnam since the five week halt ended a year earlier. The North Vietnamese were well prepared to take advantage of the respite from the aerial attacks.

During the first two days of the truce, Air Force photoreconnaissance aircraft found more than 1,500 trucks on the roads above the Mu Gia Pass and around Dong Hoi, near the DMZ.  At the Quang Khe Ferry Complex, 176 barges and 14 100-foot freighters were seen offloading supplies.

The accompanying photos of the coastal area at Quang Khe and of Route 15 show what the infiltration efforts would have been if American airpower had been restricted regularly from the skies of Laos and North Vietnam.  The photos of Quang Khe compare activities prior to and during the truce.  Quang Khe is on the coast of North Vietnam , about 60 nautical miles above the DMZ.  The Song Giang River at Quang Khe was the last main water obstacle crossed by traffic destined to turn inland and enter Laos through the Ban Karai Pass on Routes 137 and 912.