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| Can't imagine what it would have been like to see these Hueys coming at you |
The War Remnants Museum exhibits the horrors of war in Vietnam's recent past with a message to never to forget the long lasting and devastating impact of war. The Vietnam War (as we refer to it) is known more locally as the American War, and really was a continuation of hostilities of the First Indochina War that the Northern Vietnamese saw as a colonial war, originally resisting French occupation and trying to reunify Vietnam as a communist state.
Kat spent a short amount of time in Ho Chi Minh in
2008 and the War Remnants Museum was the standout experience of her time. It is
a powerful museum that exhibits some of the horror of the war and the
continuing impacts it has on those involved. Most people know that as
technology had improved, the horrors of this conflict was better documented
than prior to this time. However, for us, nothing really compared to the
photographs and stories shared in this museum. Two particular things stood out.
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| From French photographer Huet |
Requiem exhibit
On the top floor there was an exhibit called
"Requiem" (Tim Page and Horst Faas brought it together and have a
book of the same name, and we should credit the book itself here). This description from the
exhibition itself puts it better than we could summarise:
"....Between the height of the French
Indochina War in the fifties and the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975, 135
photographers from all sides of the conflict were recorded as missing or dead.
This exhibition is a memorial to those men and women, and in many cases it
includes the last photographs they took...."
Not just the last photographs they took, but ones they
took moments before their own death, the words "last roll of
film" give an extra definition to the full stop at the end of the caption.
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| Capa stepped on a landmine after this "last frame" |
This was truly a moving exhibit because it focused
less on "we this..." and "we that..." but really just
allowed you to see people and their experiences with a journalistic and
artistic eye.
It's hard to pick a favourite (even the term doesn't
fit), but some punched harder than others. This image from Eddie Adams is
of a South Vietnamese colonel threatening a Vietcong prisoner. He would
have only had seconds to take this photo, and didn't know until after it was
developed what significance it had. If you actually want to know what
happened next, the photographer talks about it in this Youtube
video.
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| Eddie Adams' photograph of South Vietnamese colonel and a Vietcong prisoner |
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Shadows of war (Dinh)
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We don't want to diminish the other parts of the
museum, for they too have a very significant and important message, and leave
one feeling quite worn out, horrified, sick and generally disgusted that we as
humans continue to do this to each other. An interesting element of the
exhibitions was the use of language to show perspectives of history. In several
places "American War" was used or "Vietnam War" (with
apostrophes) to intimate how many view the atrocities that occurred
here. It actually used to be called the "Museum of American War
Crimes" among other names, which gives you an idea of the tone of the
place.
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Self-immolation as protest
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The long-lasting impacts of Agent Orange
The other major element of the museum that stood out
was the section dedicated to the horrific "Agent Orange". Rob
knew very little about the use of dioxin during the war or its devastating
impact on land, crops and people generations later. Kat's knowledge was based
on her last visit however the depth of information actually makes a second
visit worthwhile. Dioxin can cause debilitating disability for millions of
children and families, even now. The vestiges of this insidious weapon
are still felt in the Vietnamese (and to a smaller extent American) communities
today, and there are still sites that have not been cleaned or treated since
the anti-communist presence in the 70's. Particularly striking was the
below letter to President Obama written in 2009 which shows how the
devastating impact continues in second generation victims. This letter was
exhibited after hundreds of photos of adults, children and babies affected by
dioxin and asks if the President could spare some time trying to address this
“forgotten problem”.
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| Letter from a second generation victim of Agent Orange to President Obama |
Questions of accountability for actions of war and
responsibility for the consequences loomed large during our visit. This article provides information
on how 40 years post-war the U.S. has begun decontamination of the worst
affected areas in Vietnam. This marks the countries first direct involvement in
decontamination and is expected to take four years.
Parts of the exhibition showed the incredible skill
that people with disabilities due to exposure to war chemicals have
developed. For example, one story told of a man who could write with his feet.
Seeing such stories and photos, especially those that involved children,
Kat considered what impacts of war would she see when she began volunteering at
an orphanage in the next few days.
The displays also made us think about what supports
are there for victims of dioxin and how these differ between
countries. For example, the article mentioned earlier compares the
compensation which American veterans exposed to Agent Orange receive ($1,500 a
month) to Vietnamese families with disabled children (just over $5 a month).
Court cases and pleas to both the US government and chemical companies from Vietnamese
victims have not been successful, whereas U.S. veterans' cases have.
The direct and indirect effects of dioxin will
continue to be felt by many Vietnamese now and in the future. It is obvious
that a huge undertaking is needed to improve the lives of those with disability
in Vietnam by providing better supports. Whilst the decontamination project is
significant, if long overdue, it is only really part of the picture.
