by Mumbi Munene
photos by Lim Fei Xiang
photos by Lim Fei Xiang
The Vietnam War was a focal point in the evolution of both Vietnamese and world history. Despite the fact that numerous colonisers including the French and the Chinese attempted to control Vietnam, no conflict was as violent and as ultimately criminal as the American- Vietnam war. This war is often viewed as the prime example of an international war crime. Despite the horror of war and unwarranted conflict, modern day Vietnam does not resent America. However, war remnants remain more of a tourist attraction that boasts of Vietnamese patriotism rather than attack the American soldiers who were viewed as “devils” during the war. The American-Vietnam war began in 1958 and lasted till 1975 and it dragged Vietnam into a gruesome proxy war that represented a war against communism for the Americans, but an unjustifiable attack for the Vietnamese.
Present day Vietnam is a socialist republic, and war tourism attractions such as the war remnants museum and the Cu Chi tunnels stand as a tragic failure for the United States both in preventing the development of alternative forms of governance and in managing war in a civilized manner.
The War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City shows the various war crimes committed during the American-Vietnam war and explores how a conflict aimed at the Viet Cong eventually expanded to include civilians. Portraits adorning the walls of the museum tell stories of numerous civilians especially women and children who were tortured and killed for no justifiable reason. One particularly touching portrait shows a picture of two young boys with the older boy on top of the younger one in an effort to protect him from gunshots, but in the end both boys were killed by American soldiers. Of the three million Vietnamese who died during the 17 years of the American-Vietnam war, a staggering two million were civilians. A particular section of the museum dwells on the effects of chemical warfare on the Vietnamese people. The use of dioxin laden chemicals, specifically Agent Orange caused and continues to cause numerous deformities and birth defects. The conserved images of deformed fetuses missing hands or legs and having extra heads would make even the gutsiest tourist shudder. Similarly, the recreated tiger cages replicate the brutality of American war prisons and show how American soldiers used torture techniques as drastic as blinding, removing teeth and caning to force information from Vietnamese soldiers. A large guillotine placed in one prison cell tells that death was the result of non-cooperation.
The War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City shows the various war crimes committed during the American-Vietnam war and explores how a conflict aimed at the Viet Cong eventually expanded to include civilians. Portraits adorning the walls of the museum tell stories of numerous civilians especially women and children who were tortured and killed for no justifiable reason. One particularly touching portrait shows a picture of two young boys with the older boy on top of the younger one in an effort to protect him from gunshots, but in the end both boys were killed by American soldiers. Of the three million Vietnamese who died during the 17 years of the American-Vietnam war, a staggering two million were civilians. A particular section of the museum dwells on the effects of chemical warfare on the Vietnamese people. The use of dioxin laden chemicals, specifically Agent Orange caused and continues to cause numerous deformities and birth defects. The conserved images of deformed fetuses missing hands or legs and having extra heads would make even the gutsiest tourist shudder. Similarly, the recreated tiger cages replicate the brutality of American war prisons and show how American soldiers used torture techniques as drastic as blinding, removing teeth and caning to force information from Vietnamese soldiers. A large guillotine placed in one prison cell tells that death was the result of non-cooperation.
The entrance to the prison and tiger cage at the War Remnants museum, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
The Cu Chi tunnels on the other hand, are an hour and a half’s drive away from Saigon and serve as another example of how the Vietnam- American war has become a nationalistic tourist attraction. At Cu Chi, tourists have the chance to temporarily experience what it was like to be a Viet Cong soldier during the war. The Cu Chi tunnels show how a traditional and innovative system of elaborate underground tunneling was used by the Vietnamese to conquer a much stronger and more developed enemy. The most fascinating part of the Cu Chi experience is a ten minute crawl through the underground tunnels that reek of human sweat but are so carefully crafted and hidden; they were virtually invisible to American soldiers. The Vietnamese used the “home field advantage” to corner the Americans and trick them into falling into basic but well thought out traps designed using local tools. The Cu Chi experience is all the more fascinating when one considers the fact that the Viet Cong soldiers basically created an underground life that lasted much longer than the five or ten minutes that tourists experience.
An entrance into one of the Cu Chi tunnels, Cu Chi, Vietnam.
Vietnam has faced numerous attacks from various aggressors including the Chinese, the French and the Americans, but all war tourism attractions focus mainly on the Vietnam-American war. A visit to the War Remnants museum or the Cu Chi tunnels explains why. These sites explore the effects of chemical warfare, the condition of prison confinement and the reality of the underground lives that Vietnamese soldiers were forced to live during the war. The Vietnam-American war is a central point of Vietnamese War tourism because this conflict was both unwarranted and needlessly gruesome.
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