My Travels: Vietnam War Museum in Saigon By F. Sheikh

Caution; The pictures are gruesome.

On our way to Vietnam War Museum in Saigon, I asked our guide about his opinion about Vietnam War. He suddenly got quiet, then few moments later said “see the Vietnam Museum and then I will let you know”.

Brief Background on Start of Vietnam War & pictures from Museum;

Vietnam was a French colony since 1854 but lost it to Japan during WWII. Japan allowed Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh to occupy government buildings, weapons and on September 2nd, 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared independence before a crowd of 500,000 in Hanoi..

After the surrender of Japan in WWII, the Vietnam was again handed over to France by USA, Britain and Russia. Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minch started again a guerrilla war for independence and defeated France in 1954.In Geneva Peace Conference independence was granted to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but Vietnam was divided temporarily into North and South Vietnam, and elections throughout the country were to be held by July 1956 to establish a unified government. Soviet backed Viet Minh controlled the North Vietnam, and American backed Emperor, Bao Dai, was installed in the South. His Prime Minister was Mr.Ngo Diem, a devout catholic, and later became President. USA and  Mr. Diem has refused to sign the Peace Accord because they were afraid that the planned elections will bring the entire Vietnam under the control of communism and Ho Chi Minh. In the North, Russian backed, Ho Chi Minh solidified his power and in the South American back Mr. Diem, solidified his power. President Eisenhower’s administration believed in Domino Theory and John F. Kennedy, a Senator at that time, said in a speech” “Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam.”   America started sending Military advisers to South Vietnam and then sank deeper into the conflict. Guerrilla warfare started in South Vietnam both by local and insurgents from North Vietnam for the control of the entire country, and Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces on April 30th 1974, after a heavy price paid by both Vietnamese and USA.

Vietnam War Museum in Saigon tells the story in pictures and narrative, from the Vietnamese perspective. Although some of the pictures has been published before, but  it was still an emotionally overwhelming and draining experience.( Caution;Some Pictures very graphic. Picture placed randomly).

A war poster

A war Poster

Reality of War-Mother nursing a child with severed limbs

Reality of War-Mother nursing a child with severed limbs

A soldier and Vietnamese family

A soldier and Vietnamese family

Soldier holding a child with missing body parts

Soldier holding a child with missing body parts

Dead body hanging by Helicopter 435

Bodies being dragged by a tank

Bodies being dragged by a tank

A child and soldiers 446

Bodies of children 428

Bodies of one whole family

Bodies of one whole family

Victims of bombing

Bodies of children and women 424

A gruesome narrative about Senator Bob Kerry' s involvement in massacre of two elderly men, 15 civilian including two pregnant women in 1969 in Thang Phong village. As per narrative,.Senator Bob Kerry acknowledged it in April 2001

A gruesome narrative about Senator Bob Kerry’ s involvement in massacre of two elderly men, 15 civilian including two pregnant women in 1969 in Thang Phong village. As per narrative,.Senator Bob Kerry acknowledged it in April 2001

Senator Bob Kerry

Senator Bob Kerry

Missing Journalist during Vietnam War

Missing Journalist during Vietnam War

"The Purple People Eater" A sign on Chemical Tank

“The Purple People Eater” A sign on Chemical Tank

Children with Deformities after exposure to Agent Orange

Children with Deformities after exposure to Agent Orange

Victims of Agent Orange

Victims of Agent Orange

A child in Chemical defoliated wilderness

A child in Chemical defoliated wilderness

Spraying of Agent Orange 410

Devastation after spray of Chemicals

Devastation after spray of Chemicals

Picture of Restored Area  After Chemical Weapon Destruction

Picture of Restored Area After Chemical Weapon Destruction

During the War one whole city was living underground in tunnels with schools, hospitals and other facilities

During the War one whole city was living underground in tunnels with schools, hospitals and other facilities

US wounded souldiers 440

US soldiers- a haunting picture

US soldiers- a haunting picture

A soldier resuscitating his buddy

A soldier resuscitating his buddy

War Room in Palace in Saigon

War Room in Palace in Saigon

Front Lawn of Palace in Saigon

Front Lawn of Palace in Saigon

Palace in Saigon

Palace in Saigon

An other view of Military Watch post in Da Nang

An other view of Military Watch post in Da Nang

Residence of Ho Chi Minh as President

Residence of Ho Chi Minh as President

Ngo-Dinh-Diem was initially Prime Minister and later became President in a rigged elections in 1956

Ngo-Dinh-Diem was initially Prime Minister and later became President in a rigged elections in 1956

 Deaths and injuries statistics 429

Chart on Number of troops-1969 -   549,900

Chart on Number of troops-1969 – 549,900

Somehow I did not see the iconic picture below in the Museum. Someone remarked by looking at the picture; ” If I was God, I would have stopped the War at that moment”.

( Photo AP- Nick) Phan Thị Kim Phúc running down a road near Trảng Bàng, Vietnam, after a napalm bomb was dropped on the village of Trảng Bàng. She migrated to Canada, became citizen, and has her own Charity Organization for War Victims(Wikepedia)

 .Victims of Protests in USA. Kent State Shootings.The 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller who was shot by the Ohio National Guard during the Kent State shootings( Wikipedia)

After we visited the Museum our Guide said, ” Although we have suffered a lot, but as a nation we have decided to move forward. There is no point in dwelling on bitterness, and we are developing a good relations with Americans”.

In every war, human atrocities are attributed to “few bad apples” who do not represent the Morals of the Armed Forces, but unfortunately these “bad apples” are in every war, and they nourish and grow right in front of the watchful eyes.

Fayyaz Sheikh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ali’s Voice From The Past, A Stand For Ages

I read this article by William Rhoden in NYT today, and I am also posting article on my visit to Vietnam War Museum in Saigon, Vietnam. In the article I have posted the pictures taken from the Museum. In a way both are related. ( F. Sheikh)

Excerpts from article;

I woke up Thursday morning and heard a familiar voice that I thought was part of a dream: Muhammad Ali was discussing why he had refused to be inducted into the Army.

This was no dream, but the commemoration of an unforgettable moment that was being replayed on the radio. The clip was taken from a June 20, 1967, interview after Ali was convicted of draft evasion. Two months earlier, at an Army induction center in Houston, Ali refused to step forward.

The radio show host, Joe Madison, who played the clip, said he was a high school senior in 1967 and that Ali’s defiant action made a profound impact on his life.

As a high school junior and varsity athlete in Chicago, I had a similar reaction to Ali’s act of resistance. We were engulfed in the Vietnam War in personal and often tragic ways. Two classmates of mine at Harlan High School — one a great track athlete, the other an outstanding quarterback — each lost their legs in combat.

Ali was one of the most identifiable human beings on the planet. Here was the Greatest, telling the world that he was not going to war. For me, words like conscience, principle and integrity were merely terms in a civics class. When Ali defended his controversial position, how he had no appetite for war, standing for one’s principle became concrete.

“My conscience won’t let me shoot my brother or some darker people,” he told reporters. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger.”

Click Link below for full article;

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/sports/in-alis-voice-from-the-past-a-stand-for-the-ages.html?src=recg

Posted By F. Sheikh

 

Moral Police Of Mangalore, India

Rohini Mohan writes in NYT about Hindu Moral Police in Mangalore, India, in interview with journalist Naveen Soorinjie;

“I was a print reporter then — [the Hindu extremist group] Sri Ram Sena upped its violent projects. Hindu boys and Muslims girls can’t eat ice-cream together, can’t sit together in a bus. The attacks on college kids were all over.”

“Why did they detain the victims? The Mangalore police do this — take the scared, assaulted kids to the station, call their parents, and then give them advice. “Don’t send your girls with boys, don’t let Muslims and Hindus interact in college, why is your child drinking, don’t you know Indian culture?” This is moral policing, what else? Beat, and then give unsolicited advice to the wrong person.”

“The homestay incident was in July 2012. After that, there have been 10 other assaults. None have been investigated, and visual evidence is limited. Moreover, some tabloids — why, even big dailies — mangle the issue. If the Bajrang Dal [a Hindu fundamentalist group] has slapped a girl who was smoking, the headline will say “Smoking girl slapped.” It’s a combination of right-wing ideology and power driving the police, goons and some of the media.” Click link to read full article;

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/a-conversation-with-journalist-naveen-soorinje/?src=recg

Posted By F. Sheikh