Hien Luong bridge crossing Ben Hai river in Quang Tri central province became known to the world after the signing of the Geneva Agreement on July 20, 1954. According to the Agreement, Vietnam would be divided into two parts with the 17^th parallel as the temporary military demarcation line between the north and the south. Unexpectedly, the clear, green and dreamlike river in the central region divided the country for more than 30 years of war.

The Agreement defined that a demilitarised zone (DMZ) would be established along both banks of the river, each part was 5 km from the riverbank. White wooden markets were planted along the lines with a big board on which two lines in Vietnamese and French were written: (ligne de dé cramation millitaire provisoire)

The original wooden Hien Luong bridge was built by the authorities of Vinh Linh district (a French colony) in 1928 over a stretch of river which was about 100m wide. It was along the current National Highway 1A, at km 735. The original bridge was only 2m wide and for pedestrians only. In 1931, the French colonialists had the bridge repaired but still to serve pedestrians, while four-wheeled vehicles had to cross the river by ferry.
In 1943, the French colonial authorities improved the bridge again but only small motor vehicles were allowed to cross. In 1950, the French built a new ferro-concrete bridge, which was 162 m long, 3.5 m wide, and had a capacity of 10 tonnes to meet their military needs. Two years after its construction the bridge was destroyed by Vietnam’s guerrillas’ mines to stop the enemy’s attack against the central region.

In May 1952, the French again built a new bridge which was 178 m long, and had 7 spans with ferro-concrete buttresses. The bridge’s 4m wide surface was made of fir wood. The handrail on both of its sides were 1.2 m high. The new bridge had a maximum capacity of 18 tonnes. After crossing the bridge, writer Nguyen Tuan described it in detail: “The bridge is divided into two parts. Each part is 89 m long, and painted in two different colours. The northern surface was made of 450 planks, and the southern surface was made of 444 planks…” This new bridge survived for 15 years and in 1967 it was destroyed by US bombs.     

From 1972 to 1974, Vietnam’s sappers and soldiers built a field pontoon bridge about 20 m west of vestiges of the old bridge to transport soldiers and logistics to the southern battle field.

After the liberation of Quang Tri province in 1972, Vietnam built a new ferro-concrete bridge over the river, which was 186 m long, 9 m wide, and had a 1.2 m wide pedestrian lane. This bridge was very significant as our soldiers crossed it on their way to liberate the south and unify the country. Before that when Quang Tri was not yet liberated, a 1cm-wide white line was drawn in the middle of the bridge as the boundary between the two zones. In 19 years from 1954 to 1972 when the bridge became a partition, no relatives from the two zones had a chance to officially visit each other. On the first even day of every month, a 3-person team on duty for Vietnam crossed the bridge to the southern part and on the odd day, a 3-person team of our rivals arrived in the north for a monthly briefing.   

According to the Geneva Agreement, four police posts were planted along the temporary military demarcation lines along the riverbanks. They were in Hien Luong, Cua Tung river mouth (on the northern bank), and Xuan Hoa and Cat Son (on the southern bank). The number of policemen encamping each post couldn’t be higher than 20. They were entrusted with the task of keeping the non-military regulations and checking people crossing the demarcation line (those wanting to cross the line had to have a pass issued by the police posts from both zones and were allowed to do trading at markets only, not to go deep into villages).

During the war, our soldiers used loudspeakers with a capacity of 500W, a mouth diameter of 1.7m, 4 loudspeakers each with a capacity of 250 W, and 20 additional loudspeakers each with a capacity of 50W to beam VOV Radio programmes to southern people.

The flagpole on the northern bank became a historical monument for the people in Quang Tri and the entire country. In 1962, the Vietnamese Government ordered the transport of building materials from Hanoi to build it. The flagpole is 38.6 m high and can hoist a national flag with an area of 164 sq.m and an weight of 15 kg. This is the highest flagpole and the largest national flag in Hien Luong. This pole replaced the steel-pipe one which was 34.5 m high and was built in July 1957. About 10 m from the top of the flagpole is a large cabin allowing a soldier to hoist and lower the flag. This is considered the highest flagpole and the largest national flag on the demarcation line at the 17 parallel.

Despite the enemy’s daily bombing and shelling attacks on the southern bank and the McNamara electronic fences, five km away, close to Doc Mieu Hill, the iron will of Quang Tri people was not shaken. The river witnessed many destructive raids on the southern bank.

On May 20, 1967, people in Xuan My, Bach Loc, Trung Son and other villages in Gio Linh district, where the first McNamara electronic fences were established, protested against being concentrated in strategic villages set up by the US and the Saigon puppet government. They took advantage of our artillery shelling the enemy posts to  run to the river and wade across it to the northern bank. From the northern bank, people from Vinh Linh district, braving bombs and shells of the US and Saigon authorities, rowed boats to save their southern compatriots. The enemies called for heavy artillery from Doc Mieu Hill in Gio Linh, about 5 km away, and from the 7^th Fleet off the shore of the Cua Tung river mouth to fire at the people on board their small boats, killing a large number of them. In Trung Son commune alone, 120 people were killed and wounded. Currently, on that day people from the two districts along the Ben Hai river go to this stretch of river dropping flowers, lanterns and food to worship the souls of their parents, brothers and sisters who were killed by US bombs and shells 40 years ago.

For 20 consecutive years, many people from Vinh Linh, including children from Tung Luat ferry-landing in Vinh Quang, Vinh Linh had braved bombs and shells to row to the river to save people from the south. The close affection between people from Vinh Linh and Gio Linh from the northern and southern banks was never broken by the US and the Saigon puppet regime. They secretly visited each other and young couples still got married in the fiercest days of war.

Nowadays visitors crossing central Vietnam cannot but stop for a while to enjoy a view of the historical river and Hien Luong bridge, or sunbathe on Cua Tung beach, 7 km away and enjoy the culinary specialilties of Quang Tri. This land with many historical sights locations and heroic people witnessed 30 years of fierce war and has always been proud of being the border line of our nation from the signing of the Geneva Agreement to the total liberation of Quang Tri./.