The name To Hap originated from the abundance of To Hap trees along the river flowing through Khanh Son district. This tree produces a sap used as medicinal material, so local people named the location after the plant. To Hap is a valley surrounded by major mountain ranges such as Da Bia (YaBi), Shoung Khong, and YaBio. During the resistance war against the American empire, To Hap was chosen as a revolutionary base, serving as the headquarters for many major agencies of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, as well as armed forces from Region 5 and Khanh Hoa province.
With its favorable position, situated on an important communication route for Inter-Zone V and the Central Government, it served as a gateway to and from the highlands. Furthermore, the To Hap revolutionary base held significant importance for the Vietnamese revolution because it was positioned opposite the Cam Ranh military base—which was the largest US military base in Vietnam at the time. With this in mind, Inter-Province III (Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa), Inter-Zone V, and Khanh Hoa province chose the Khanh Son area to build a complete revolutionary base, serving as a foundation to expand the revolutionary movement and a springboard for the anti-American and anti-puppet struggle in the South Central region.
The main relic clusters that formed the Revolutionary Base are distributed across the following areas:
- Suoi Gia area, in present-day Ba Cum commune;
- To Hap area, in present-day To Hap town;
- Xom Co area, in present-day Son Binh commune.
1. Xom Co area:
Now located in Village 2, Son Binh commune, Khanh Son district. This was the most important area of the site, serving as the headquarters and hub for many major agencies of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee and the armed forces of Region V and Khanh Hoa province, such as the 120th Battalion and the 254th Company. It also served as the steering body for Region VI from 1959 to 1963. The terrain here is rugged, surrounded by many high peaks such as Cha A and Gia Ngeo to the South, Doc Gao and Cha Pa to the East, and a number of hills shielding it to the North.
Historical revolutionary monument stele in Xom Co, Son Binh commune, Khanh Son district
2. Suoi Gia area, Ba Cum commune:
This was the headquarters for the Khanh Son District Party Committee from 1960 to 1962, after it relocated from Son Trung commune. The positions of the District Party Committee agencies were located on the eastern slopes of Hon Gam, including the Economy and Finance, District Party Committee, and District Military units, bordering Gia Phung mountain with Suoi Dua stream to the North. At the foot of Gia Phung mountain to the South and the foot of Hon Gam, there are several small streams such as A Thi stream and Suoi Gia. This area hosted many major events for Khanh Hoa province and Khanh Son district during the anti-American resistance years, such as: in 1955, the Khanh Son District Party Committee organized a conference to thoroughly grasp and discuss implementation measures for the resolutions of the Central Government and the Provincial Party Committee; in 1957, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee held a province-wide expanded conference to evaluate the situation in the new era...
Suoi Gia area, Ba Cum commune
In 1963, due to the intense sweeps by the US-puppet forces, to ensure safety, secrecy, and proactive anti-sweep operations, the Khanh Son district agencies moved to To Hap and used it as their headquarters until the victory of the anti-American resistance war.
3. To Hap area:
This was the most important area, concentrating many resistance agencies and armed forces of Khanh Son district from 1960 until the victory of the anti-American resistance war.
After moving from the Suoi Gia – Ba Cum area to the To Hap region, the agencies and resistance forces of Khanh Son district chose the To Hap stream basin as their base. This area is surrounded by many large mountain peaks such as Doc Gao and La Bin to the North; Hon Gam and Hon Ham to the East; Gia Uy and Da Trao to the West; and Lo Hang to the South. The area has many streams, which were ideal conditions for the agencies and armed forces to operate and resist enemy sweeps.
Ham Mountain[1] served as a communication route for Inter-Zone V and the Central Government; in 1952, Comrade Le Duan also stopped here on his way to the North for work.
Since the units and leadership agencies of Inter-Province III, Khanh Hoa province, and Khanh Son district chose the To Hap valley as a revolutionary base, the political, economic, and social life of the ethnic communities in Khanh Son has changed. Under the leadership of the Party, directly overseen by the Party Committee of Inter-Province III and the Party Committee of Khanh Hoa province, the patriotic movement of the ethnic people in Khanh Son district developed strongly, contributing a small part to the common victory of the nation. They successively defeated the enemy's conspiracies and tricks against the mountainous region, from the policy of "Conquering the Highlands" organizing guard outposts, and establishing "Strategic Hamlets" during the "Special War" to the policy of destroying our revolutionary base with all their forces and their most modern means of war.
The enemy sought every plot to relocate the population of the Son Phong and Region I areas, with a focus on Ba Cum. To Hap—where they called the "To Hap Secret Zone"—had the earliest and strongest revolutionary foundation and movement, serving as the base for the District and Inter-Province III (Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan).
By the end of 1959, the enemy had to bitterly admit that they had fundamentally failed in their "Denounce Communists, exterminate Communists" policy in Khanh Son. When discussing the causes of failure, they blamed factors such as geography and unfavorable population distribution, ignoring the fundamental factor: the absolute determination of the vast majority of the Khanh Son people to follow the Party to the end. The enemy worriedly stated: "The To Hap Highland region (Cam Lam) alone, with over 3,000 people living separately and too far from the lowlands, could become a future combat area for the Viet Cong"[2].
In 1963, at the end of the anti-sweep campaign, we killed 200 enemy soldiers, and the enemy's so-called "Thiem Dau Thuy Campaign" was a disastrous failure; the campaign's goals were completely unrealized. The To Hap Valley has gone down in the history of Khanh Son and Khanh Hoa as a miraculous pinnacle of courage and the art of people's war, while simultaneously being the "Valley of Death" to the enemy[3]. The victory in defeating the "Thiem Dau Thuy Campaign" by the army and people of Khanh Son marked the bankruptcy of the US empire's "Special War" strategy against Khanh Son in particular and western Khanh Hoa in general.
It can be said that the role and impact of the To Hap Revolutionary Base on the cause of the anti-American resistance war for the Province and Region in general, and Khanh Son and Cam Ranh districts in particular, were immense. Khanh Son was the cradle of the revolution, a place that sheltered and nurtured cadres and troops, and a key command base for Inter-Province, Region VI, and the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee during the early years of the anti-American resistance war. Khanh Son was also the leading district in the concerted uprising to liberate itself, reforming the three-region posture and building an increasingly strong base, serving as an initial foothold for the troops and cadres of the Inter-Province, Region VI, and Khanh Hoa province to open movements in the countryside, lowlands, and urban areas. For Cam Ranh, the establishment and stable existence of the To Hap – Khanh Son revolutionary base right next door to the US military base, despite the enemy's destructive attacks, was a rallying cry and a source of great inspiration. Thanks to the people, the land, and the tenacious spirit of holding onto the land and the people maintained by the Party Committee and local government of Khanh Son district, the Party Committee, cadres, and soldiers of Cam Ranh district, along with the armed forces of the Region and Province, were able to complete their missions, contributing to the victory in the anti-American resistance war and the unification of the country.
The nature of this type of relic is that it is outdoors, situated in a vast forest and mountain area, and the main relic clusters are scattered; previously, they relied on natural terrain, so today almost no old traces remain. Over time, trees have grown to cover the area, or slash-and-burn cultivation by locals has caused the site to lose its markings. Currently, only a few caves and grottoes deep in the forest remain. In 1999, the Khanh Hoa Management Center for Relics and Scenic Spots erected steles in three areas to introduce the relic site.
In 2008, the To Hap Revolutionary Base was classified as a provincial-level historical and cultural relic by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee under Decision No. 2855/UB-QĐ dated November 18, 2008.
To Hap revolutionary base stele
Nguyen Thi Hong Tam
[1] This name was given by revolutionary cadres because there are many caves around the mountains, which provided favorable conditions for revolutionary armed forces to take shelter from US-puppet bombs and shells.
[2] Report dated December 16, 1958 (archived at the Party History Research Department of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department).
[3] Ton That Dinh and the soldiers who participated in the sweep, as well as enemy press after the Thiem Dau Thuy campaign, called the To Hap valley the "Valley of Death".
