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Mang Yang Pass

The Mang Yang Pass ( Photo courtesy Harold Hendrichsen) (real name Mang Giang) was the last major obstacle convoys had to negotiate on the journey from Qui Nhon to Pleiku. Although not as long as the An Khe Pass (real name Deo Mang), it lacked the switcbacks of the An Khe Pass and was therefore steeper. There were three stongpoints in the pass, manned by an APC, a tank, or a Duster.

On the north side of the Mang Yang Pass, and clearly visible from as far away as Bridge 26, were the white headstones marking the graves of members of Groupement Mobile 100, the French mechanized unit which was ambushed repeatedly along Highway 19 by the Viet Minh on June 24, 1954 ( Photo courtesy Jim Bracewell Co B, 229th Avn Bn). This unit was ambushed by elements of the Viet Minh 803rd Regiment. The French were outnumbered, and the battalion size unit was severly mauled in the engagment and ceased to exist as a fighting formation. The actual ambush occurred in the area between what was, in 1968, Bridge 25 and Strongpoint 5, approximately 15 kilometers west of the airfield at An Khe.

The Vietnamese Communists reportedly removed the headstones shortly after the fall of Saigon in 1975. They wanted to remove every reminder of French and American presence in the south.


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Creation Date: Monday, November 10, 1997
Last Modified: Sunday, July 18, 1999
Copyright © Ray Smith, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
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