American War in Saigon

Lucky for me, Betsy is a pretty laid back traveler….which is just my style.  I like to decide where I’m going and how I’m going to get there a day or two before.  Ultimate flexibility is my motto.  This usually works out great….however, when we decided we wanted to get from Hoi An to Saigon, we ran into a bit of a snag.  Everything was booked.  A flight to Saigon?  Booked for the next four days.  A flight to Nha Trang to hang out on the beach?  Booked.  Overnight bus?  Full for three days.  Overnight train?  Full…except for one train to Saigon.  We’ll take it!!! 

We boarded the train at 1:30 in the afternoon and would arrive at 5:30 the next morning.  Ouch!  Based on the overnight-bus-flea-biting incident, I figured it was prudent to buy a silk sleeping so as not to expose myself to any critters again.  It turned out to be an excellent purchase as the train to Saigon was…well…less than clean.

Ultimate in flea protection

We arrived at the crack of dawn and after a nap decided to head over to the War Remnants Museum, which focuses on the American War (aka Vietnam War) and also Reunification Palace, the headquarters for South Vietnam and the Americans in Saigon during the war.  There is a famous photo of North Vietnamese tanks busting through the gate of the palace during the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Reunification Palace (formerly Independence Palace) today

The name of Saigon was officially changed in 1976 to Ho Chi Minh City (although still referred to as Saigon by the locals) in respect of Ho Chi Minh, known as “Uncle Ho”, who secured independence for Vietnam from the French.  He is truly viewed as a hero, but I can’t quite figure out if he is really as revered as people say or if it’s a result of some serious propaganda.  But Uncle Ho receives praise in the same way we love George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Just a quick reminder we're in a communist country

 

Betsy and Uncle Ho

This may be my favorite photo of the entire trip.  This guy is taking a snooze on a ridiculously crazy busy corner.

The traffic is definitely nuts here as well!  This lady is carrying her baby on her motorbike on a makeshift baby seat.  It looks like a bamboo high chair...

The War Remnants Museum was, in a word, difficult.  It is extremely one-sided, which is not unexpected since we are in Vietnam, and shocks visitors with photo upon photo of the atrocities that occurred during the war.  Anti-American sentiment is much stronger in the South than in the North, which is interesting because the South was fighting with the US.  But somehow they place much more blame on our interference in their civil war for the hardships that their country experienced during and after.  I do not feel that people view me, as an individual, differently and certainly no one treated me with disrespect when I told them I’m American.  But the museums and displays about the war are clearly against the US involvement in the war and were much more aggressive in their tone than those in the North.

Working on the helicopter in front of the War Remnants Museum

Planes in front of the War Museum

My take on the museum and the horrible things that happened during the war is simply that it was a horrific experience for everyone involved.  No one won in this scenario and I can’t imagine what our soldiers experienced but I’m quite sure, based on the photos in the museum which I’ve never seen in the US, that it is truly unspeakable.  They were just kids experiencing things we can’t even imagine. 

For me, it created more questions then it answered.   For example, Agent Orange, which cleared foliage and jungle, had terrible consequences in the form of disease and birth defects which you can still see the result of in the people of Vietnam today as well as the children of American soldiers who were exposed to the chemical.  Why did we use this if we knew it was so toxic and caused long term effects? 

I’ve also tried very hard to understand why we entered Vietnam in the first place and I can’t quite get a clear answer.  Could it simply be our fear of communism taking over SE Asia?  It seems like such a tiny country to take a stand of that nature.  But it was the middle of the cold war and the fear of communism was palpable.  I have ordered a few books on the topic to educate myself further on the subject. 

What I do know is that I have such great respect and empathy for everyone that experienced the war in Vietnam and again feel lucky that I haven’t gone through anything remotely close to that. It reminds me once again to appreciate each day I live in happiness and freedom.  

What I didn't realize before my trip to Vietnam is that the Vietnamese experienced battle again and fought against the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the late 1970's.  At the same time, many people were fleeing Vietnam on boats due to starvation, persecution because they supported the South during the war, or they were ethnic Chinese at a time when Vietnam was in a struggle with China  for independence.  Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese floated away on boats, not knowing if they would make it alive, but it was better to take the chance then stay in Vietnam under such horrible circumstances. 

The string of events that shape recent Vietnamese history is complicated but it's evident that the Vietnamese born in the 40’s or 50’s have had a lifetime of war, starvation and general hardship.  It was not until America lifted the embargo on Vietnam in 1994 that prosperity started to return to this torn country.  Some of the refugees who fled Vietnam have returned and the population has boomed from 25 million after the war to 85 million today.  8 million alone in Saigon (with 5 million motorbikes!!)  It’s a young country…the average age somewhere around 25 and it is still quite poor, but clearly increasing in opportunity and prosperity.  It's a communist country with capitalist elements and I am fascinated to see where they will be 10 years from now.

A balloon seller on his bicycle