The day started off normally. I was going on the half day CuChi tunnels tour. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong for protection and surprise attacks and are located 50 km (30miles) from HCMC. The first stop was at a lacquer handicraft village. Several things made this place remarkable: all the craftspeople were victims of Agent Orange and were supporting themselves through creating the lacquer work. Second, the many stepped process and intensity it takes to create this artwork was amazing. We saw the process from the beginning. Work with egg shells and egg shell dust, the drawing of the designs, the painting, the cutting of the mother of pearl, the. Overcoat, the glossing and sanding and finally the polishing. The sheer volume this place puts out is amazing. While I wanted to support the program, I am not a huge fan of lacquer stuff!
Moving on we made it, finally, to the CuChi Tunnels. While the trip was only 30 miles, it took nearly two hours! The tunnel complex is full of anti-American propaganda, as you would expect. There is a video describing in painful detail how inept the America forces were. An aside: while this complex is on south Vietnam, this was a stronghold for the VC. The danger was how close it was to Saigon and the southern government, and it was at times the final stop on the HCM trail.
The VC were very proud of the "farmers during the day, soldiers at night" routine and whole villages of people, men, women, children, elderly, were all part of the liberation movement. They would pretend during the day to be happy local farmers, bit at night would be using their tunnels to attack the Americans and southern forces. Part of the tunnel experience is seeing all the different tiger holes and booby traps set to hurt and maim the opposition. It was pretty ingenious stuff the VC did to out smart and hurt us! They even figured a way to trick the German shepherds who the US employed to help!
The tunnels themselves are tight. Very tight and small. They Twist and turn and drop down different levels. There is 120m of tunnels open the the public. The are about as wide as a seat on a plane and you end up having to crawl through them. Certainly no room to stand. They drop down about te meters/30 feet underground. No wonder it was hard for the us forces to manage and fight against them. They had little access point hidden all over and would pop up and shoot and them hide in the tunnels. If the US GIs went after them, theyboften got stuck with the size if the gear. Overall, a cool testimony to the ingenuity of the VC.
After a quick visit to the shooting range (and shooting an M30), we headed back to HCMC. And this is where the actual journey took place for me.
The stop was the War Remnants Museum. The outside houses a large collection of US planes, tanks, and artillery. Cool to look at and take pictures. But the story begins when you enter the building.
The museum is three floors and it is a powerful place. I had been expecting more anti-American and pro- Vietnam propaganda. What I found was a museum dedicated to exploring the toll war takes on a population: not soldiers, but the people of the country. It was powerful. The images speak for themselves, but it is incredibly well done. You first encounter more agent orange and dioxin victims who are volunteering and working to make a living. In many cases these people are disfigured, blind, and significantly handicapped.
The museum goes on to tell a story of a country fighting for its independence, the world supporting a unified (and potentially communist) Vietnam. And the sad atrocities of war. Not accusatory, but nonetheless, powerful in the role that the Americans acted in the history of this nation. It makes you realize that war impacts everyone in a country. Not just the military, not just the armed forces. And the approach of the US was troubling. They had a remarkably tough job. How do you know who your enemy is, when it can be anyone? A farmer, a mother, a child? Napalm and chemical weapons as well as tremendous bombing tore through a country. Who from their point of view. Just wanted to be unified under one government.
The museum had powerful exhibits on the war protests, on peace demonstrations, on the effects of agent orange (still remaining today) and the photography of the war. Really, a place not to be missed. Whatever your view of the war, you can't mistake that it claimed large number of civilian casualties and wounded. The estimate is 3 million Vietnamese died.
Then I thought of our own war memorial and the work of our own troops, and the fight they had. They did what their country asked of them. They sacrificed for what the country beleived was the right course at the time. How can anyone judge them for their sacrifice and service.
The take away for me: there are no winners in a war. Everyone comes out a little worse and a little damaged. It is always the weakest, most innocent among the people who bear the brunt of attacks.
Today had a major impact on me. In many ways it was a very hard day. Much like how I felt at Hiroshima and Auschwitz, this is a feeling I struggle with, but I hope to remember.
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