A Tinker in Thailand

After getting healed up enough to get out of the hospital, it was time to get a look at some of Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City’s history and the history of the American War of Aggression in Vietnam. To do this we visited Reunification Palace (formerly Independence Palace, base of American operations during the war), the War Remnants Museum (formerly the American War Crimes museum) and the Cu Chi tunnels, a site where VC fighters successfully resisted American forces turned into a tourist attraction popular with foreigners and Vietnamese alike.

Reunification Palace is the site the VC won the war against the Americans on April 30, 1975, the event we refer to as “the fall of Saigon.” Outside the palace are replicas of the tanks that crashed through the gates on that fateful day. The history was interesting, the rooms were beautiful, the tour guide was funny.

The Cu Chi Tunnels visit was part of a package tour we went on with a bus full of (mostly) Aussies. On the way we stopped at a tourist trap where some people purchased grossly overpriced handicrafts. I never could have anticipated the experience of visiting the tunnels.

VC fighters used an extensive network of tunnels throughout the country to defend themselves from GIs and bomb attacks. The tunnels start 3m underground, deep enough to withstand heavy aerial bombardment. The ground here is about 70% clay, excellent for building strong tunnels. There are two levels of tunnels below the first, much deeper and smaller. Along the tour we got to crawl through a 100m stretch of tunnel to get an idea of what it was like to be in them. That was interesting, but much less powerful than other aspects of the tour.

On display is a real American tank destroyed by a land mine. The land mine, of course, was manufactured by VC from unexploded American ordnance. How ironic.

We got to see a number of “traps” used to “hunt” Americans. The terminology seems gruesome at first, until you consider that these people used the same technology to defend themselves against American invaders that they had previously used to hunt animals for food. That’s right, a modern military superpower fighting an essentially agrarian people. The first trap we saw was the bamboo trap, which consisted of a 1×2m rotating trap door with an axle in the center, weighted to balance perfectly. Stepping on any point on this surface it would rotate, dropping the victim into a pit of sharpened bamboo sticks driven into the ground. This was the least gruesome of the traps we saw. 

The more fascinating ones, of which there were about 8 varieties we saw examples of, were fashioned with metal spikes forged from shrapnel gathered from craters where American bombs had fallen. They all achieved variants on man steps on trap door, things turn, flip or rotate, man gets various metal spikes in feet, legs, groin, abdomen or chest. I imagine a lot of GI’s must have shot themselves after falling into these traps. The phrase “hunting Americans” was used a number of times in the explanations.

In the middle of the tour we stopped for a bathroom break and refreshments/souvenir purchase. At this point we had the opportunity to use the firing range. For about $1/bullet, tourists can fire a variety of guns, including American M1s and M2s, machine guns, and VC AK-47’s. I bought a clip of 10 bullets and gave it a shot.

Before leaving the tunnels we watched a short film documenting the lives of Cu Chi people, how they would work in the fields by day and fight by night, how a young girl was given an award of heroism for killing many Americans and that despite the fact that the Cu Chi were a simple agrarian people, they were still determined to fiercely resist the American attack on their land.

After the tunnel tour we visited the War Remnants museum. The museum itself is unimpressive, but the story it tells is heavy. The photo/text exhibit is all in one large room, and shows pictures of American GIs committing various war crimes, massacres, abuses, etc. The end of the exhibit documents the affects of American chemical warfare in Vietnam with Agent Orange and the devastating effects still felt to this day.

Outside the museum are various captured American aircraft and tanks, and a replica tiger cage like those used by the “Independence” forces.

In a smaller room outside the museum is a gallery of photographs documenting the international resistance to the American war of Aggression in Vietnam. I had always been acutely aware of the protests here in the States, but in this exhibit I saw posters and photographs from the resistance in countries around the world. I felt content that the museum told that story as well – distinguishing the crimes of the American government from the will of the American people.

Before we left the museum, torrential rain started coming down. We bought some $1 ponchos and headed out into the streets. After a taxi driver tried to charge us 100,000d (about $7), we jumped out of the cab in disgust. The metered price for the ride would be about 20,000, but, he explained, it’s raining. This was a blessing in disguise, as we were quickly approached by two bicycle taxi drivers who were happy to have our business. The exhilarating, if slow, ride back to our hotel in pouring rain put a perfect cap on a not-so-perfect trip to Vietnam. We got our bags at the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed for the airport. 

Goodbye, Vietnam!