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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| October 30, 2004 |
Vung Tao, Vietnam – Remembering the War |
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| French, American, South Vietnamese seat of power – now a museum of history |
Under the surface of rapidly developing Vietnam and the glitter of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the memory of war is preserved to serve as a lesson to all, with deep relevance to contemporary events. Located in the south of the long, narrow country, Ho Chi Minh City is said to have experienced the brunt of western influence during the French and American wars, visibly distinguishing it from more traditional and conservative cities to the north. Just outside the city are the preserved Kuchi Tunnels, a shocking and awe-inspiring testament to the tenacity of the Vietnamese people fighting against foreign control of their country. Going back to Peace Boat's original mission of learning about past wars in order to build a more peaceful future, 53 Peace Boat participants spent one day travelling through the cavernous, extravagant former seat of rulers and the tiny, deep tunnels which hid the people fighting against them. |
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| Looking at old maps in the war planning room |
Weaving between slow-moving cyclo taxis and the latest Japanese import sedans competing for space in the streets, our first stop was a guided tour of the Hall of Reunification, the former presidential palace of the French government. Until North Vietnamese tanks entered the city in April of 1975, the building was used as the official headquarters of the South Vietnamese government. The building is preserved almost exactly as it was on the day Vietnam was at once abandoned by the old government and reunified with the North. Participants were led from stately conference rooms to the presidential dining room to a 1970's style entertainment lounge and down to the subterranean network of tunnels and rooms displaying strategic war maps and the ancient telecommunication systems of the defeated government. |
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| Taking a close look at a captured US warplane |
Moving on to the War Remnants Museum, with warplanes and tanks in the front grounds of the compound, here the cruelty of war is not only expressed through the bombs, artillery and tiger torture cages displayed but also through the photos and graphic accounts of the effects of Agent Orange on the thousands of war victims. Agent Orange is the name given to the dioxin used by the US military as a jungle defoliant, whose long term effects are known to result in serious illnesses, deformities, skin diseases and cancer. Many participants were visibly shaken as they read about the horrific results of the napalm bombs and they saw photos of children with potholed skin and deformed limbs. |
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| One piece of art by a 13 year old student aspiring to a more peaceful future |
A photo exhibition of images by journalists killed on assignment, although contrasting images from the two sides of the conflict, communicated the remarkable similarity in the pain suffered by the people who fought each other. Also included were images focusing on the importance of the anti-war movement, including of US presidential candidate John Kerry, in leading to the end of the terrible period in Vietnam known as the American War. |
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| Our guide through the tunnels |
The day's events were consolidated with a visit to the intricate Kuchi tunnels, where the Viet Cong had dug a three-tiered underground labyrinth of tunnels with bamboo baskets and rustic spades. Participants were mesmerised by the detailed layout of the passages and bunkers, given the very limited resources of the people who built them. Squeezing through the dark passages deep below the ground with no air circulation, participants could clearly understand the logic of the Viet Cong in building the tunnels too small for an American soldier to pass through. Outside, the deafening sound of bullets from the nearby shooting range, a sound shockingly different to the Hollywood representation in movies, helped participants better understand the impact and suffering of both soldiers and civilians during this bloody period. |
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| Snacking on the tea and boiled potatoes which served as the main nutrition for the resistance fighters |
By chance a group of participants began chatting with a young, curious group of Vietnamese university students, eventually asking the students what they thought of seeing this aspect of their country's history. Though the students had learned about the tunnel-based resistance in school, to actually see how the previous generation had fought impressed them and reinforced feelings of pride in the strength and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese people. While also feeling the deep regret that such events should have taken place at all, they eventually conveyed scepticism that the US had learned the proper lessons, judging from the war in Iraq. Maybe in another five or ten years one student suggested, would the same lessons of the futility of war be relearned in Iraq. At the end of the day, the impact on participants was intense, leaving them with a much more in-depth insight into the suffering endured by the people of a country still rebuilding itself decades after the conflict known as the American War came to an end.
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