National Route 19 ( vi, Quốc lộ 19 L19or ) runs across Vietnam roughly in line with the

14th parallel north The 14th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 14 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...

. The route includes two segments: National Route 19 begins at

Qui Nhơn Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. H ...

and ends just short of the Vietnam-

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

border, while National Route 19B begins on the Qui Nhơn peninsula and joins Route 1 east of

Phu Cat Airport Phu Cat Airport ( vi, Sân bay Phù Cát) is the airport serving Qui Nhơn, Vietnam. It is in Phù Cát District between the towns of Ngo May and Đập Đá, around northwest of Qui Nhơn within Bình Định Province along the South Centra ...

Route description

National Route 19 runs through the following towns and cities: *northwest of Qui Nhơn where it connects with Route 1 *

An Khê District An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

Pleiku Pleiku is a city in central Vietnam, located in the Central Highlands region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or De ...

, where it connects to Route 17 *southwest of Pleiku, where it connects to Route 14C

History

Route Coloniale 19 or RC19 was constructed by the French in the early 20th century and was the main road connecting the Central Highlands with the coastal region of Vietnam. The Battle of Mang Yang Pass took place along RC19 between An Khê and Pleiku from 24–30 June 1954. Route 19, September 1967

In the early 1960s as the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

began to increase in intensity, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and

US Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

began to build a chain of bases in the Central Highlands to interdict the flow of men and material from

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

. In August 1965 the 1st Cavalry Division established

Camp Radcliff Camp Radcliff (also known as An Khê Army Airfield, An Khê Base or the Golf Course) is a former United States Army base in the An Khê District in central Vietnam. History 1965–67 Camp Radcliff was established in late August 1965 by the 70t ...

at An Khê. Route 19 became a vital supply artery to these bases and the

Vietcong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

and

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...

Starry, Donn A., General. P. 248 ''Mounted Combat In Vietnam.'' Department of the Army. 1978. (NVA) conducted frequent ambushes along the road. As part of the

Battle of Ban Me Thuot The Battle of Ban Me Thuot was a decisive battle of the Vietnam War which led to the complete destruction of South Vietnam's II Corps Tactical Zone. The battle was part of a larger North Vietnamese military operation known as Campaign 275 to c ...

in March 1975, the NVA blocked Route 19 preventing the movement of ARVN reinforcements towards Pleiku and preventing its use in the subsequent evacuation of the Central Highlands.

References

* {{Highways in Vietnam 19 Vietnam War sites