Saigon Attractions #9 The War Remnants Museum

I had been promised myself that I would make a visit to the War Remnants Museum, ever since arriving in Saigon. It took me almost a year before I did it. I finally went and the experience, I have to say, left me utterly drained. It is easy to dismiss this museum merely as a propaganda machine for the government. It is though worth noting that a very large number of the photographic exhibits were donated by American G.I.s revolted by what they had witnessed. This is not a place for the faint hearted. It certainly confronts, like no other place I have visited. War is a nasty business and the attempts to sanitise it, almost make it acceptable at times. Almost that is, until you walk into a place like this. Formerly known as The Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes, it changed its name in 1990 to the Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression. Then after relations with the Americans were normalised in 1995 it changed to the name which it bears to this day.

An F-5A Jet Fighter stands in front of the War Remnants Museum
Dismissing it as merely propaganda, as many have, is just too simplistic in my opinion. The fact remains that many crimes were committed by both sides. Growing up in the U.K. we were never told of the Vietnamese side to the arguments. I am sure it is the same in the U.S. The photographs here cannot be dismissed. That many were donated by American G.I.s, simply crushes many of the arguments. British, U.S. and Australian news reporters have also donated many of the photos displayed here.

To dismiss this as propaganda is, in my view, naive
The museum stands on Vo Van Tan at number 28 in District 3, not far from The Reunification Palace. The gardens contain some serious American hardware from the war. Planes, tanks and heavy artillery. One aircraft that fascinated me was the A37 fighter-bomber. No matter what your views are on the war, the bravery of the guys who flew these things cannot be questioned. They were scarily small, almost like a small car with wings. One can but imagine what it must have been like, ripping through the mountainous countryside at high speeds, close to the ground. In fact, when looking at all this hardware close up, one is struck by the crudeness of the equipment used a mere forty years ago.

I couldn’t believe just how small the A37 fighter-bomber was
Entering the building, you see that it is an open-plan style with each of the three floors housing glass fronted rooms around the outsides of the structure. The first floor is given over to mainly clothes and other artefacts from the period. I spent about 20 or 30 minutes browsing round this level. It offers no glimpse of the horrors that awaits on the remaining two floors. I climbed the stairs to the second level and saw that it was made up of mainly photographs depicting scenes from the war.
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Articles of clothing worn in the war days, show give no clue to the horrors of the next two floors
I could only stand to look at the photographs for about 20 minutes, I simply had to leave, such is the horror that they depict. I would strongly advise anyone with children not to bring them here. Not unless you want sleepless nights for the next six months. It is quite simply, terrible. I won’t show the images here, I don’t think they belong on this website. After 20 minutes I walked outside to gather my thoughts and stood on a terrace next to an elderly American guy. We both shrugged our shoulders, stood in silence trying and failing to hold back the tears. After a while he simply said,”Yes, it really was that bad.” We shook hands and walked away in silence.
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Incredibly the Museum has children’s play area. I cannot think of a more unsuitable place to bring children
The Agent Orange room is particularly harrowing, such are the deformities inflicted on these beautiful people. It is a measure of the Vietnamese strength of character that they seem to hold little bitterness. They appear, on the face of it, to accept that everyone paid a price. Maybe, this should be required viewing for everyone. Maybe then, the world will wake up to the realities of war. I don’t hold much hope, but it is a hope worth holding.