Dong Ha

Đông Hà is the capital of Quang Tri province. Dong Ha is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the Reunification Express Railway and is served by Dong Ha Railway Station. EWEC is an economic development program which includes Northeast Thailand, Southern Laos, and central Vietnam.

 

During the Vietnam War, Dong Ha was the northernmost town in South Vietnam and was the location on a strategically important U.S. Marine Combat Base, outposted to provide surveillance of troops movements across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Dong Ha was overrun on March 31, 1972, during the initial assaults of the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive.

 

Tourists come to Dong Ha nowadays, especially ex-servicemen from the U.S. and Vietnam, who nearly always include a DMZ tour in their programs. The contemporary Vietnamese singer Nhu Quynh was born in Dong Ha in 1970.