DUTY AND PURPOSE Army Engineers in Vietnam

摘要

Lt. Gen. Carroll Dunn, USA, would later describe the conditions in Vietnam succinctly: Formidable obstacles confronted the engineers. The tropical climate, with its monsoon rains and enervating heat, imposed severe handicaps on constructors. Few building materials, either natural or manufactured, were available locally. Saigon was the only deep-draft port. Roads, mostly primitive, were interdicted by the enemy. Cargoes had to move in coastal vessels or by air. The supply line to the United States stretched ten thousand miles. Native labor was largely unskilled. Because much of the country was thickly populated and graves of venerated ancestors abounded, building sites were at a premium. Complicating the entire construction program was the use of essentially peacetime funding methods in a war situation.