Saigon War Remnants Museum
In Saigon I paid a visit to the War Remnants Museum which I thought would provide an insight into the Vietnam war. Absolutely packed with harrowing pictures of the devastation caused by the United States, the photos certainly make an impact. Although I believe that the war was totally unjustified and the US breached several international laws by entering Vietnam, it doesn’t sit well with me when a museum doesn’t tell the complete story. I like museums to be factual and to tell the history of whatever their focus is. I don’t think that is too much to ask. Throughout the exhibition halls the explanatory text is essentially “America did this, America did that” etc without any attempt at telling the story of why the war started, how Vietnam defended itself or the number of casualties on each sides, just the number of Vietnamese casualties. I’m not saying that the story told wasn’t factual, it just felt very one sided and not the whole truth, a lot of it actually felt like propaganda. That issue aside, the collection of photos is fascinating, it shows the effects on the country and people both then and now. A chilling experience.
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