Ho Chi Minh Trail was formed in the early 1960s, becoming the inter-connection route which brought millions of officials and soldiers to the South (called battlefield B) to support the large front line. The Party and State’s policy was to cut along Truong Son to form a road to fight against the America, liberating the South and reunifying the country, by repairing, upgrading and expanding Ho Chi Minh trail, or Road 71 for short (construction commenced in 1971) together with construction sites 71A, 71B, 71C, key construction units under Project I (the predecessor of the present Transport Complex 4). When Management Department 71 - I under Bank for Construction of Vietnam was established, officers were transferred from Bank for Construction - Nghe An Branch and officers of Nghe An, Ha Tinh origin in Thanh Hoa, Ha Bac, Hoa Binh branches came to take the mission.

Ho Chi Minh Trail at that time was mainly stick to the forest, running along Truong Son mountain range, and many of its sections were close to the Vietnam - Laos border, most of which crossed high mountains and deep streams compared to the current Ho Chi Minh route.

The Ho Chi Minh trail at that time mainly stuck to the forest, running along the Truong Son sections close to the Vietnam - Laos border

The construction plan in that day was aided by machine combined with manual work, and each construction site only had a few C100 or DT54 bulldozers and about 10 old Soviet Din-ben trucks, or Chinese dump trucks with maximum load of only 5 tons. In high and rocky places, explosive mines were used. Workers used shovels, with trolleys as the only means of transportation, thus labor productivity and efficiency were rather low. Consequently, after 3 years of construction (1971 - 1974), the road was still not open to traffic.

We those days considered the construction site as home, office as temporary residence. Those days when going to the construction site with the technical staff, climbing passes and wading streams, despite of hardship, were a favor for us to enjoy the natural landscape, enjoy the rich, magnificent, poetic beauty of the mountains and forests standing tall in the sky, being a solid fulcrum for the route to run through.

Construction Site 71C were far in Huong Trach commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province. Mr. Trinh Xuan Cuong had a Hungarian bicycle, which was normally used in Hungary to carry grass for cows, horses, but then provided as aid to Vietnam, and re-distributed to officials for travelling. More than 100km long road with several key points such as Linh Cam river confluence, Dong Loc junction, Dia Loi ferry, etc., Mr. Cuong must choose the right time to pass through places with lots of bombs and mines of the American imperialists, to timely arrive at the site.  The verification of cost estimation, checking inventory data of materials and fuel when there was a policy to adjust the price, or the acceptance of the completed work volume could not had been completed without the Bank’s allocating officers.

Son Tay and Son Kim communes of Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province in the 1970s were sparsely populated; people from many lowland communes of Huong Son, Duc Tho and Can Loc districts migrated to build a new economic zone, but agricultural production was not sufficient, and the State had to subsidize them. People did everything to make a living, such as cutting cork trees, timber, and firewood into rafts and brought them down along Ngan Pho river for sales. The land was rather large, yet the real population was crowded because of the construction site of Ho Chi Minh trail. The army's transport convoy, the warehouses transshipping domestic and foreign goods aiding the Laos battlefield alternately stationed along Highway 8.

Three years working in the Management Department 71 - I was 3 years of getting along with harsh forests and water, where a 20% toxic allowance was made to compensate for living with yellow flies, forest leeches, mosquitoes... we had gradually got familiar with life here, then it was also the time when the State decided to suspend the construction (March 1974).

Now it has been almost 40 years away from the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Having the opportunity to pass on the glossy black asphalt surface, where the sun clearly imprints the silhouettes of people and vehicles, the road has switched downward several kilometers to the lowland yet still crosses high mountains and deep streams; do you know how much sweat, effort, and blood were shed by thousands of traffic workers, young volunteers, defense soldiers, and officials of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam?

Along the two sides of the road, many forests and tea trees have covered bare hills, terraced rice fields appear here and there, the corn fields along the mountainside come to harvest time, full of grain, heavy cotton, shiny, exposed to the sun, signaling a bountiful season. Many towns have sprung up, goods are abundant, electricity works, roads, schools, and stations have been built, making the face of farmers and rural areas more prosperous today.