Visiting a Shared History in Saigon

As you might have read in my previous post (here's a link to it in case you've missed it), last week  Nathalie and I left Thailand for Vietnam.   We were both pleasantly surprised by Saigon and our first impressions were overwhelmingly positive.  However, these experiences had more to do with the city and the people itself.   

While Vietnam today is a peaceful and well organized country (at least on the surface), the country has a storied and turbulent past.   For 35 years during the middle of the last century, the country was wrecked in war and conflict.  First with the French, then with the Americans, and finally amongst themselves before a permanent end of hostilities brought about the current Vietnam that peacefully exists today. 

The United States played an enormous part in this conflict; spending over 20 years, trillions of dollars, and nearly 60,000 American lives to ultimately have the Vietnamese obtain their initial goal; a united and independent state.   The war had an immeasurable impact on America's history and culture.  As a history fan, I've been fascinated with this conflict for quite some time, mostly for the reasons mentioned above, along with the greater impact it had on the cold war and US foreign policy.

With that in mind, I felt obliged to visit this side of America's and Vietnam's shared history, and to see how the Vietnamese saw the war from their side.   Nathalie and I both decided to visit a museum dedicated to the war and a former Viet Cong tunnel site, to see what the other side thought of one modern man's worst conflicts.  

I'm an American citizen.  I grew up in the US but have spent most of my adult life in Belgium.   Living in western Europe gave me a great opportunity to understand the impact of World War II, where Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany and then liberated by the United States.   We all read the history books in school where we learned about how America liberated Europe from legitimate tyranny and backstopped the foundation for Europe to live in lasting peace and prosperity.  

The justification for American involvement in the war is clear, and by and large, undisputed.   It's part of Europe and America's common history (global gringo travel pro-tip:  If you're an American visiting Europe is to avoid bragging about the US role in the conflict.  The whole  "we liberated/defeated you, eat it" is a big party foul for western Europeans, and doesn't earn you any points with the locals.  They're already well aware of their history and proud of themselves for maintain peace between them).    

Ten years ago, my mom came out to visit me.  While she was here, we went to Bastogne, where her father was during WWII, and visited an exhibit called "I was 20 in 45."   It was one of the best museum exhibitions I've ever seen, as it put the war in a very human perspective, taking into account not only the American war effort, but also the Belgian resistance, the lives of civilians, and most interestingly, the German perspective.   Seeing the war from both sides really brought it together and gave me valued insight into what life was like during the war in Belgium from all sides involved.  

With that in mind, I wanted to get the other side's perspective on the Vietnam War to give me a more complete understanding of what has been America's only losing war and one that profoundly impacted my homeland's culture and history.   

The War Remnants Museum  

Our first visit was to the War Remnants Museum in central Saigon.    This museum was built in a former US government building following the reunification of Vietnam in 1975.  It's main purpose is to show the war from the Vietnamese perspective, in the aim of giving western visitors their take on this massive conflict.   While the US saw this war as a struggle to contain communism in southeast Asia, the Vietnamese viewed  it differently.   Here, in a nutshell, is their side to the story:  

Ho Chi Minh and his followers were initially fans of the United States and the declaration of independence.   They drew many parallels between the American revolution against British rule and their own desire for self determination away from French colonialism.    After the French withdrew from Indochina, the Americans, in their communism containment policy of the cold war, denied the Vietnamese the right to organize an independent state of their own choosing, being that of the socialist principles of Ho Chi Minh-flavored communism.

Huey Helicopter at the War Remnants Museum

As the United States escalated its military intervention, deviating away from the 1954 Geneva accords, the Vietnamese became determined to not so much fight for the ideals of communism, but for their independence, survival and autonomy.   Indeed he American War, as it's called here, was more about defending their homeland to the death, even if it meant repelling the greatest military in the history of mankind, rather than fighting for communist principals.    

There's a wide gamut of opinion as to the objectivity of this museum.   In all fairness, they won this war, and their experience on it is theirs to share.   That being said,  some of the exhibits were tough to witness.  Throughout the museum, there were bomb fragments from various US air-strikes.   Many of the quotes from US politicians and officials were presented out of context (regardless of the morals of going to war).

There were halls dedicated to the effects of napalm and agent orange.  For those you unaware of what agent orange is; it's a chemical dioxin used to defoliate the jungle.   Although believed harmless to humans at the time, it's been blamed for hundreds of thousands of birth defects, still births, and exotic illnesses.  Seeing pictures of the victims was admittedly hard to stomach.

Field artillery vehicle at the War Remnants Museum 

We spent about two hours in the museum, being able to see all of the exhibits on display.  We didn't watch the film that they were playing in one room, although ironically enough, there was a drink stall in front of it, advertising the various Coca-Cola products they had to offer.  Maybe it was a subtle nod to the normalized relations between the two countries, but I couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of it.

We finished off the museum by looking at the 'captured' American military vehicles in front of the building.  My guess was that these machines belonged to the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), which were sold to them by the Americans.  Once the south fell, they became property of the former North and were re-painted with American livery.   In any case, it was the icing on the cake.

We left the museum with the aim of getting dinner and digesting what we had just visited.  It wasn't the easiest museum I've been too, and probably one of the more unique ones as well.   However, seeing the war through pictures could only bring us so much.  In order to get a much more rounded experience, we decided that our next stop would be a visit to a former battlefield and a preserved network of VC tunnels.

The Chu Chi Tunnels
After a calm evening, Nathalie and I set out early the next morning towards the Chu Chi tunnels.  This complex holds a preserved Viet Cong tunnel complex that has been converted into a living museum of sorts.  The site is about 45 Km/28 miles outside of Saigon and we booked our visit through a tour operator just in front of the hotel we were staying at.   We loaded up into the mini-bus and, after picking up a few more people, headed out of town for the hour long commute to the sight.

Once we arrived on sight, we were instructed to stay together with our guide who had been provided to us via the travel agency.  We cleared through an underground passage and, upon emerging, entered into the tunnel complex along with the surreal environment that accompanies it.

Immediately exiting the passage, you're greeted with an innocent looking jungle, filled with paths and crowds of people standing around the various exhibits; tunnel entrances, spider holes, and air vents leading to the labyrinths beneath them.   Towards the back of the complex is a shooting range where visitors can fire small arms from the era for a fee.

Getting out of a spider hole

These weapons were the standard AK-47 along with the American-made M-16 rifle and M-30 machine gun that was mounted on the back of an old jeep.    As you can imagine, this part of the complex was very popular, so every few minutes, the sound of gun fire would ring out, adding a very real element to the war atmosphere being recreated.

We started off our tour with a spider hole.  This hidden entrance to the tunnel network was used to get the drop on the enemy then to disappear just as fast and were scattered throughout the underground system.

Tiny doesn't begin to describe it.   We had an opportunity to give it a try.  Nathalie and I were the only two in the group who gave it a go.  Nathalie fit somewhat easily.  I was able to get down without a problem, but getting out required that I contort my arms so that my shoulders would be slim enough to clear the hole. 

Inside, there was barley room to crouch down.  There was another entrance, just as minuscule that lead further into the tunnel complex.   After staying down there in the dark for maybe 15 seconds, I resurfaced and we continued on our way.

Throughout the visit, the guide explained how the tunnels were used by the brave Vietcong to repel the attacks of the Americans.   He explained that as the war went on, the tunnels were gradually expanded, creating a massive network of tunnels.  This site alone had over 250 Km/155 miles of tunnels by the time the war ended.

The tunnels were mostly built at night as it was only under the cover of darkness that they could move easily without detection. We were shown the various ventilation shafts that were disguised as ant hills and termite colonies.  The guide told us that the VC would use captured American uniforms at the various entrances to confuse dogs searching for Vietnamese hidden under ground.

Field trap exhibits at the Chu Chi Tunnels

We were taken to an exhibit showing the various traps laid throughout the battlefield intended to maim and kill those daring to tread on land.   With a mural of ensnared GI's back dropping the display, a guide, dressed as an VC guerrilla demonstrated each trap (using a stick, not his body), showing how they would capture Americans, ending the war for whichever poor soldier fell victim to the pitfall.  In short, it was hard to see.

From there, we moved on to see an actual tunnel and, if willing, go through it.   The guide was explaining to us that 95% of the tunnels dug for the war had collapsed as no one bothered to maintain them after the war.  The ones that remained were left and maintained by the government to serve as exhibits for visitors and school groups.  He also pointed out that the tunnels had been widened from their wartime use to accommodate guests who didn't have the same body size as the VC it was designed for.

Our group was invited to go down and follow a park ranger through the tunnels.  Every 20 meters, there was an exit for those who wanted to leave.  If we wanted to keep going, we'd tell the ranger and would proceed.   The maximum distance we could go was 100 meters, that would take us to a field hospital.   Nathalie and I started off, along with a small group from the Netherlands and a German couple (one of which apparently suffering from a chronic obsessive compulsive talking disorder as she couldn't stop speaking for more than 30 seconds during the entire trip) decided to give it a go.

Crawling through a preserved VC tunnel 

The group from the Netherlands, being typically Dutch in terms of height, couldn't make it past the main entrance.   That left the German couple, Nathalie and myself to plow through.  The park ranger kept the tempo brisk, meaning that we were moving as fast as we could.   For me, that meant hunching over and walking while in a half-squat stance.  We hit the first check point with the guide asking us if we want to get out or keep going.   Nathalie and I wanted to keep moving, and perhaps the German couple as well.  At the next checkpoint, we had lost visual contact with the Germans (we could still hear one of them talking), and the guide yelled at them to exit and we continued on.

At one point, I had to crawl with my chest to the floor just to clear the passage.   Even though during the renovations, they had added ventilation fans and lights, it was incredibly dark, hot, cramped and humid.   After spending nearly five minutes to go a mere 100 meters, we entered the field hospital where we could leave the tunnel complex.   I was drenched in sweat and dirt from the crawl, and in all honesty, I gained a sense of respect for those who spent their lives fighting to survive underground in these conditions, even if they were the enemy at one point.

The tour finished with a viewing of short war-era propaganda film, showing how the VC were steadily defeating the American invaders and defending their country's sovereignty.   Again, it was a bit hard to watch, but it was their way of telling their side of the story.   After the film, we loaded back into the mini-bus and returned to Saigon.

Overall, the visits were an eye-opening, if sometimes painful experience.  It gave me added respect for what this country went through to maintain its independence and to take on one of the greatest military powers in human history.

The Vietnamese who presented these exhibits did so about as respectfully and politely that could be expected.  They understand that it's in the past and have at least publicly moved on.   The United States and Vietnam enjoy normalized relations with each other and, for the most part, work for a common future of peace and economic cooperation with each other.    In a very real way, these exhibits stood to not only remind all humans of the tragedy of war,  but to try and plead against future frivolous conflict.    

What did bother me, though was the behavior of some of the foreign guests.   At one point during the tunnel visit, we were shown an old US tank that, according to our guide, was disabled by an improvised explosive device.   When the soldiers inside the tank got out of the vehicle, they were ambushed by the VC who had emerged from the tunnels to go on the offensive.  While he didn't come outright and say it, he implied that the attack was successful in neutralizing the threat.  The tank was left where it had fallen and found itself as an exhibit in the complex.

Visitors were playfully running around it (some tried climbing on it), and taking boastful pictures in front of it.   For me, this was extraordinarily disrespectful to not only those soldiers who had lost their lives in that tank but as well to the Vietnamese who risked their lives at the same time.   In the end, we're all humans, and this was the site of men killing fellow men.  It's very much sacred land.

Additionally, hearing western Europeans talk down about the American activities here and in general seems a little duplicitous given the common history between those two places.  Indeed, war is never black and white, and the very justified American intervention in Europe during WWII laid the foundation for the modern, prosperous and secure Europe that exists today.   But I digress, we all have our own views and are entitled to our own opinions.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the city and treated ourselves to a nice dinner that evening.   The next day, we transferred out to Da Lat (more on that in the next post) to continue our trip here in Vietnam.

For now, this will probably be the only post I do that focuses on the war in Vietnam.  This country while steeped in common history has lots more to offer than a turbulent past.  It's been 40 years since the conflict finally ended, and in that time, the country has been reunited and rebuilt.    Sure, the history will be practically everywhere I go (I'm outside of Da Nang now, and the airport we flew into was one of largest US bases during the war), but for now, I'm going to enjoy getting to know this country for its natural beauty and rich culture, not to mention the many different pork-based soups.