Chu Lai

Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: Với Khu Kinh Tế Mở Chu Lai).

History

Vietnam War

Chu Lai was a United States Marine Corps military base from 1965 to 1971 during the Vietnam War. Roughly 56 miles (90 km) southeast of Đà Nẵng, the base had an airfield to supplement the major base at Đà Nẵng. It was not named for any local geographic feature, but rather was the Chinese name of Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.

Da Nang Air Base was the first major airfield used by the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Shortly after conventional ground forces began arriving in country in 1965, it became necessary to open a second airfield because of the heavy traffic into and out of Đà Nẵng.

On 6 May 1965 units from the ARVN 2nd Division and 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines secured the Chu Lai area. On 7 May, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (United States) (3rd MEB), composed of the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, elements of Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 10 landed at Chu Lai to establish a jet-capable airfield and base area.

Chu Lai (businessman)

Chu Lai (1847–1906) was a businessman from Panyu, China who migrated to British Columbia in 1860.

Biography

He was considered to be one of the wealthiest Chinese merchants in British Columbia. In 1876 he opened a general store selling all sorts of Chinese products. The Wing Chong Company was the largest employer of Chinese workers and artisans. Chu Lai had no difficulty finding employees because his store was a meeting-place for Chinese immigrants.

He was married to four women, two in China and two in Canada. This arrangement was, according to historians, to facilitate the administration of his business on two continents.

In 1885, Chu and another Chinese were accused of not having paid their annual $10 tax, which the Chinese Regulation Act had levied on all Asiatic adults in the province. Chu appealed to the British Columbia Supreme Court, which found that the tax was beyond the powers of the province. Chu Lai played an important role in the education of Chinese in the province, in protesting against the creation of a separate school system for the Chinese. During his lifetime, he was not well known among white Canadians. It was his funeral that interested the British press: