Saigon/HCMC, Vietnam: War Museum (November 2013)

When you tell someone you’re going to Vietnam, you get a certain reaction… something like “... oh, I hear it’s beautiful.” Yes, it is beautiful, but let’s focus on the initial pause. It’s no secret that there’s simply an awkwardness with visiting Vietnam. Not really sure what to expect, how the locals will react, do they treat Americans differently, is the war a taboo topic? The Vietnam War is a large part of our relatively current history. My parents’ generation was in the thick of it, so by default it’s a hot topic even still in our country.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the locals still call it) late into the evening on Oct. 30th. Saying that the streets were buzzing would be a serious understatement. So many motobikes and bright lights rushing around us. We finally found a decent hostel, lucking out with a cheap/clean room to ourselves on Pham Ngu Lao street, the main backpacker drag. Unbeknownst to us, the night before Halloween was almost as well celebrated as Halloween itself. The street was packed, we were exhausted and hungry. We found a cafe off the main road where we could sit and take a breather. Luckily we ended up sitting next to an ex-pat from Oregon who has lived in Saigon for about 6 years. He was a bit of a character, but also extremely helpful with not only answering our common questions, but also shedding light on the currently US/Vietnam relations. He reassured us that we’ll be welcomed in Vietnam as Americans, although it’s important to visit the War Museum to understand the Vietnamese perspective on what they refer to as the American War.

Now, on to the museum. I don’t have any pictures of the interior exhibits out of respect, and frankly the images were so brutal that keeping those memories only in my head is more than enough. Clearly the Vietnamese are welcoming to Americans today, but you get a “forgive but never forget” sense from the museum. The museum is anti-American and blatantly clear that the US had no place in the war, and their “aggressive war crimes” have not gone unnoticed. Whatever your political views regarding the Vietnam War and/or today, it’s important to see the other side. I’m really glad we took the time to go through the museum, as hard as it is to see both hatred towards your country and images of what your country put others through. Of course this goes both way. The US lost too many soldiers during the war which people all over the world didn’t support, but learning another perspective and seeing it in an overwhelming capacity is humbling. If you’d like to discuss my experience at the museum in more detail, please let me know… I don’t want to go into it too much on the blog.

Here are a few pictures from the museum, but again keeping it respectful to both sides…