Michael Do

Kien Base[1] was built in the middle of the Iron Triangle secret zone about two kilometers from the small town of Ben Cat. The Iron Triangle was formed by part of the Thi Tinh River on the east and Saigon River on the west. The acute angle is the meeting point of two rivers at Ben Cat. On the north side, there was a dirt road from Ben Cat bridge that ran along the river to Dau Tieng and farther, to the Cambodian border. This had been for decades the supply route of the enemies to many famous secret zones such as the war zones D, Long Nguyen, Boi Loi, Ho Bo, Tam Giac Sat (Iron Triangle), to name a few!
In 1967, not far from the Ben Cat district compound, there occurred a fierce battle – Operation Cedar Falls – between Viet Cong and units of the ARVN 5th ID and US 1st ID amid the Iron Triangle. Two years later, we found the ruins of three armored vehicles: one M-41 tank and two M-113 APCs and various items of American soldiers at the spot where five narrow trails converged. We gave it the nickname “Ngả Năm Chuồng Chó” (five-way intersection at the dog kennels), after the name of the very famous red light district in the north suburb of Saigon.
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