The Thanh Hoa Bridge; spanning the Song Ma river; is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Thanh H骯; the capital of Thanh Hoa province in Vietnam. The Vietnamese gave it the nickname Ham Rong or 'Dragon's jaw'.

In 1965 during the Vietnam war; it was the objective of many attacks by US Air Force and US Navy aircraft which would fail to destroy the bridge until 1972. In their first air combat; a small force of seemingly mismatched MiG-17s inflicted significant losses on much larger and more advanced American F-105 Thunderchief and F-8 Crusader fighters at a cost of 3 of their own.

873 air sorties were expended against the bridge and it was hit by hundreds of bombs and missiles before being finally destroyed. It became something of a symbol of resistance for the North Vietnamese; and various legends of invincibility were attached to it.

Eventually; in 1972; the bridge was destroyed by A-7 Corsair bombers using laser-guided bombs and conventional bombs. It was rebuilt by Vietnamese sappers and then destroyed again during Operation Linebacker I. Today it functions normally as a major link on Vietnam's key Highway 1 linking Hanoi and Saigon.