Trucks during a Truce – Mu Gia Pass

100106 USAF Photo #19

The Mu Gia Pass is situated astride the Annamite Mountain Range, separating Laos and Vietnam.  On 8 February 1967, 75 fully loaded trucks were detected heading south along Route 15 toward the Mu Gia Pass.  The photo inset shows 7 trucks moving through an area of difficult terrain that had been heavily cratered just prior to TET.

OFFICIAL DEPART OF DEFENSE PHOTO RELEASED AT WASHINGTON, D.C.   MARCH 17, 1967

Since the periodic truces in the early years of the war halted the bombing of North Vietnam but did not stop combat in Laos, the North Vietnamese concentrated during truces on moving large quantities of supplies to storage areas near the Laotian border.  Cloudy weather limited much of the aerial reconnaissance during the 1967 TET truce.  However, a mission on 8 February found seventy-five trucks, and 130 trucks were photographed on 9 February just north of the border. (see the Dog’s Head photo.)

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.