On January 15, Mr. Ngo Quoc Phong, Deputy Director of Quang Tri Provincial Museum, confirmed that the unit had received a C-119 aircraft for display at the Ta Con Airport National Relic (Khe Sanh commune, Quang Tri province).
According to Mr. Phong, the aircraft was transported by specialized vehicles from Dong Nai to Quang Tri. Currently, relevant units are assembling, completing the structure and restoring the paint layer according to the prototype before placing it on the display podium.
Leaders of Quang Tri Provincial Museum said that the addition of C-119 aircraft will help increase the number of outdoor artifacts, contributing to more realistically recreating historical space and enriching the collection of large-scale military technical artifacts at the relic.
C-119 used to be a war vehicle of the US military, participating in combat on Truong Son road, Ho Chi Minh road, including the Quang Tri battlefield. In 2016, the Ministry of National Defense issued a C-119 to Quang Tri province for display, but due to budget constraints, transportation was delayed many times.
By the end of 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will support 4 billion VND to restore, dismantle and transport aircraft from Dong Nai to Ta Con airport, creating conditions for the locality to complete the system of displaying artifacts to serve sightseeing and traditional education.
Ta Con airport was once a strategic military base of the US in the period 1966-1968, and also a place that marked many feats of the Vietnam People's Army in the resistance war against the US.
Currently, the relic site is displaying many military artifacts such as C-130 aircraft, CH-47 Chinook, UH-1A, M48, M41, M113 tanks, 155mm cannons and many bomb and bullet casings. Among them, noteworthy is the C-130 heavy transport aircraft numbered 532, which participated in combat in Ta Con and was handed over to the relic site in 2012.
The addition of large-sized C-119 aircraft is expected to create more display highlights, contributing to more clearly recreating the "military airport" space at one of the important historical destinations of Quang Tri.
