Breezing Through Saigon

So, back in Rach Gia, we hiked back to the guesthouse where I stayed before. The woman there had treated me well, so I was more than happy to give her more business and book our bus tickets to Saigon through her. She gave us a fair price and within a half hour we were on the bus, headed for Ho Chi Minh City. Massimo and I arrived in the evening at the bus station. Again moto drivers hounded us to take us were we needed to go. But, a Polish guy doing research for a tour he was organizing informed us we could take a city busy for 3,000 dong (or 18.75 cents) versus the 30,000 dong ( or $1.88) the moto drivers wanted to charge us. We were grateful for his insight and, obviously, we took the bus to the backpacker district. Once again, we found ourselves amidst a busy muddle of Westerners being hounded by Asians selling their whares. Massimo and I sought a guesthouse and found one for $7 a night. We had dinner and hit the hay. The next morning, a quick breakfast, then we set off the War Remnants Museum. Of course, the Museum is rather slanted… against the American supported South. The North did win after all. But, you can’t help feeling appalled at what the American government did. The torturing and the devastating shower of Agent Orange. There is a picture of an American soldier proudly holding up the mangled remains of a North Vietnamese soldier. There are pictures of children, who were born after the war, that are grossly disfigured from Agent Orange. There’s no question. The American government and some American soldiers made some appalling decisions during the Vietnam War. But, the museum failed to show the ugliness of the Viet Cong guerrillas. Instead, the museum highlights them as clever heroes who won with little means. Well, I’m reading a book that testifies to the ugliness of both sides. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places illustrates a war where both sides were made of soldiers and monsters, where both sides were menacing and cruel. It seems the American-backed South was the worse of two evils… but it seems the only reason is because that was the side with more means. Had the Viet Cong possessed the weapons and chemical warfare capability the Americans did… well, it wouldn’t be surprising if it too would have dropped Agent Orange.

Here are just some of the testimony/propaganda/truths/half-truths displayed at the museum, all of which were accompanied by photographs. Very slanted against Americans. The Vietnamese haven't forgotten... (interesting to note, there were a lot of Asian tourists taking notes... I'm just saying.)

"In March 1965 the US government sent its troops to Vietnam. Each US soldier coming here received a booklet called 'a new War style' stating 'We come here to help the people and conquer the South Vietnam. We come here to save the whole South East Asia from communist aggression and oppression. By that action, we can boost the security for the United States.' But what the US soldiers had donen were arresting and killing normal people, including children, women, older people; destroying houses, schools, hospitals, spraying defoliants to devastate forests and crops... Among the 6 million turns of US soldiers being sent to Vietnam, more than 58,000 were killed and over 300,000 wounded."

"Tiger Cages: Special cells for the detention of political prisoners considered "stubborn" by the Saigon authorities. Each cell measures 2.7 m x 1.5 m x 3m. During the hot season about 5 to 14 prisoners were kept in one cell. In winter time there was only one or two of them kept in it with their feet shackled to a long iron bar."

"Two photographs published yesterday by the Chicago Sun-Times which are alleged to show a war prisoner being pushed alive from a United States Army helicopter in VietNam and falling to his death. The Sun-Times reported that the captions accompanying the pictures 'indicate the man was pushed to his death because he refused to talk during an interrogation.'"

"American soldiers tied up persons to their tank and dragged them on roads to death."

"At about 8-9PM on February 25, 1969 a special naval team called SEAL (a unit of the well-trained special force of the US Army) consisting of 7 soldiers led by First Lieutenant Bob Kerrey infiltrated into Thanh Phong village, Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre Province. They entered a cottage and cut the throats of Mr. Bui Van Vat, 66 years old and Mrs. Luu Thi Canh, 62 years old; then dragged their 3 grandchildren hiding in a nearby sewer out, stabbed them to death, then opened one child's abdomen. Thereafter, they moved into the cave shelter of Mrs. Vo Thi Tro's family and took all 16 members on the shelter cover, then shot dead 14 people (including 3 pregnant women) and opened a girl's abdomen. The only victim survived was Bui Thi Luom, 12 years old, wounded at the legs. Not until April 2001, did former US senator Bob Kerrey confess his crime before the international public opinion." (A book I'm reading about a woman's first-hand account of the war in Vietnam reveals villages were often spies for the Viet Cong and a real threat for the South/Americans... but nonetheless, these acts are revolting and disturbing.)

"When these two boys were shot at, the older one fell on the little one, as if to protect him. Then the guys finished them."

"'This man and two little boys popped up from nowhere,' says Haeberle. 'The GIs I was with opened up, then moved in close to finish them.'"

"Letting snakes out into the prisoner's trousers. This method of torture was especially inflicted on women prisoners." (The book I mentioned confirms this. But it was South Vietnamese soldiers, not American soldiers fighting for the South who committed this kind of torture in the book. I'm sure both were responsible.)

"Bringing water into the stomach of the prisoner through his nose with the help of a rubber pipe. The prisoner was tightly fastened with his head kept lower than his feet. He had been gagged. The cruelest torturers soaked soapy or limed water and ran it into the prisoner's nose. In a matter of minutes his belly inflated strangely. The torturers kicked him or trampled him brutally on his belly. The liquid mixed with blood spurt out from the prisoner's nose and mouth, which had been gagged even."

"Dripping water from a faucet on a spot of the head where hair was shaved off. The prisoner was kept bound tightly. Enduring such torture for hours, the tortured person felt the weight of each drop of water as heavy a blow hitting his brain."

"American sprayed 72 million litres of toxic chemicals in Vietnam. 60 percent of Mangrove forests were destroyed by defoliants."

"The Vietnam War has ended. But the war of Agent Orange victim is still going on."

"Never in human history have people witnessed one country's making war to the living environment of another. Yet, the United States has engaged in this ecological experiment that no one has dared or will dare carry out." (Contextual statement of Senator Nelson at a Senate hearing, Aug. 1970)


That night it was Indian food for dinner… yum!... and dancing at Go 2 club that night… fun!. Then, finally, sleep.

The next day Massimo and I took a day tour to a religious temple that combines Buddhism and Catholicism. The temple was... kitschy. It looked like a little kid playground more than a religious temple. In the afternoon, the tour took us to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are the tunnels the Viet Cong soldiers used to remain elusive during the war and avoid the blanket bombing by American aircraft. We also saw plenty of demonstrations of various booby traps. Soooo... booby traps aren't just for Indiana Jones movies. The Viet Cong guerrillas were clever and crafty. There is no question about that. Massimo and I tried tapioca root, a staple of the Viet Cong soldiers during the war. It tastes like slightly sweetened potato. An interesting day...

Next stop: Mui Ne.