The War Remnants Museum ( vi, Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh) is a war museum at 28 Vo Van Tan, in

District 3 District 3 can refer to: *III District, Turku, in Finland * District 3, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 3, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia * District 3, Malta, an electoral district of Malta *District 3, a police district of Malta * Wiedikon, als ...

, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. It contains exhibits relating to the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

History

Operated by the Ho Chi Minh City government, an earlier version of this museum opened on September 4, 1975, as the Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes ( vi, Nhà trưng bày tội ác Mỹ-ngụy). It was located in the former

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bil ...

building. The exhibition was not the first of its kind for the North Vietnamese side, but rather followed a tradition of such exhibitions exposing war crimes, first those of the French and then those of the Americans, who had operated in the country as early as 1954. Formerly known as the "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes", the name was changed in 1990 to Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression (''Nhà trưng bày tội ác chiến tranh xâm lược''), dropping both "U.S." and "Puppet." In 1995, following the normalization of diplomatic relations with the United States and end of the US embargo a year before, the references to "war crimes" and "aggression" were dropped from the museum's title as well; it became the War Remnants Museum.

Exhibits

The museum comprises a series of themed rooms in several buildings, with period military equipment placed within a walled yard. The military equipment includes a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bomb, M48 Patton tank, an

A-1 Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly known as the AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s. The Skyraider had an unusually long career, remaining in front-line service well into the Jet Age ...

attack bomber, and an

A-37 Dragonfly The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is an American light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. The A-37 was introduced during the Vietnam War and remained in pe ...

attack bomber. There are a number of pieces of unexploded ordnance stored in the corner of the yard, with their charges and/or fuses removed. One building reproduces the " tiger cages" in which the South Vietnamese government kept political prisoners. Other exhibits include graphic photography, accompanied by a short text in English, Vietnamese and Japanese, covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical

defoliant A defoliant is any herbicidal chemical sprayed or dusted on plants to cause their leaves to fall off. Defoliants are widely used for the selective removal of weeds in managing croplands and lawns. Worldwide use of defoliants, along with the ...

sprays, the use of

napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated alu ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

bombs, and war atrocities such as the

My Lai massacre My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Market ...

. The photographic display includes work by Vietnam War photojournalist Bunyo Ishikawa that he donated to the museum in 1998. Curiosities include a

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

used by the French and South Vietnamese to execute prisoners, the last time being in 1960, and three jars of preserved human

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal dev ...

es deformed by exposure to

dioxins and dioxin-like compounds Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes - or, in case of dioxin-like PCBs ...

, contained in the defoliant Agent Orange. Within the museum, visitors can find permanent and temporary exhibitions focusing on events dating from when the First Indochina War began in 1946, up until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Past short-term exhibitions include ''Agent Orange in Vietnam'' and ''Vietnam Rose After the War'', in a first-floor side room that often features rotating photographic displays. From fall 2014 to spring 2015 ''Agent Orange: Messages from the Heart'', a collection of photos featuring thriving survivors of war, signaled a departure from the museum's abrasive tone towards a more reconciliatory one, in line with its trajectory since the mid 1990s.

Reception

The War Remnants Museum is currently one of the most popular museums in Vietnam, attracting approximately half a million visitors every year. According to the museum's own estimates, about two-thirds of these are foreigners. US anthropologist Christina Schwenkel wrote the museum attempts to convey historical truths with 'self-representation', presenting images and other features without contextualising them as other museums do. Museum curators are described as being privy to the fact that knowledge about the Vietnam War and the interests of the Vietnamese is not typically known in other nations. An analysis of the impression books (which the tourists may use to leave their comments in at the exit) revealed that the museum's visitors used to be mostly Europeans and North Americans before 2005, but that its audience became much more varied after Vietnam dropped their visa requirement for

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

countries that year. The impression books also record mixed responses to the museum. Others simply praised Vietnam, while some Americans harshly criticized the museum for its "propaganda" and "glorification of heirvictory". Broadening interests have expanded from other countries as well, including visits from tourists from Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and others expanding to see the museum.

Gallery

File:Le musée des Souvenirs de guerre (Hô Chi Minh Ville).jpg, Artillery and armor collection File:Khu trưng bày máy bay.JPG, Aircraft collection File:Unexploded Ordnance War Remn Mus Saigon.jpg, Defused ordnance on display. File:Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, M41 Walker Bulldog.jpg, Captured M41 Walker Bulldog. File:Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, War Remnants Museum.jpg, Relics of Vietnam War. File:Vietnam - Hanoi - War Remnants Museum - Guillotine.JPG, Guillotine used by the French. File:Vietnam - Hanoi - War Remnants Museum - Prisoner.JPG, alt=Diorama of alleged detention conditions in some South Vietnamese prisons, Diorama of detention conditions in some South Vietnamese prisons File:Vietnam - Hanoi - War Remnants Museum - Haeberle.JPG, Exhibited picture of

aftermath File:War Remnant museum, a corner.jpg, Display of anti-war artwork.

References

External links