Southwest Ben Cat Iron Triangle is located in 3 regions: An Dien, An Tay and Phú An in the southwest of Ben Cat district, Binh Duong. From the center of Thu Dau Mot town, the triangle is 15km away to the South. Playing such an important role in two resistance wars against invading enemies, the three tunnels were recognized as a National historical and cultural heritage on 18 March, 1996 by the Ministry of Culture and Information. The entire triangle has an area of 230,000m2.
During the war against American invaders, regardless of the enemy’s effort to destroy the area, the people here always fought against to protect their beloved land. After successive defeats, the Americans fall into a helpless situation, and as a result, they had to call this area the “Iron Triangle” (Southwest Ben Cat Tunnels).
With a tunnel system of nearly 100 km in length with about 50 fighting hub and many tunnels to shelter, treat injured soldiers, store weapons and food,… Southwestern tunnel is the revolutionary base for many other resistance officials and organizations. Here, there were thousands of American soldiers were decimated on the spot. As a result, many main armed forces acted as a starting point to attack the enemy’s hideout in big battles and large campaigns. It was Le Hong Phong campaign (1950); ambushes fighting on road 14; anti-raids,…
The Iron Triangle was of significant in resistance wars, especially, fighting against the US Army period. During 20 years of war, the tunnel system proved to be of combat value to bury thousands of enemies and their tanks, steel-covered carriages,… deeply into our land. Especially, in the Spring 1968 campaign and Spring 1975, this tunnel system was the place of army force assembling to attack Saigon, and therefore making a considerable contribution to the victory of 1975.
In 2010, the People’s Committee of Binh Duong invested more than 225 billion dong to build monuments and the construction works including three main parts: civil construction, technical and artistic infrastructure of the monument. The project was completed in late 2012, so that native citizens and abroad tourists can pay a visit to the Iron Triangle and commemorate those who bravely sacrificed to protect this adored land.
