Saigon veteran

You can't come to Vietnam and ignore the war. From the homestay, we returned to Saigon on the bus from Vinh Long, checked into the hotel and went to visit the War Remnants museum.


They say that history is written by the victors and the museum certainly presents a somewhat distorted view. However, there is no doubting the unconscionable suffering of the Vietnamese people brought about by the actions of the US military.
In Vietnam the war is always referred to as the American war and is rather simplistically portrayed as a struggle for freedom by the people of Vietnam against the US imperialist aggressor seeking to capture the natural resources of the country.
For those of you like me, too young to really understand the war at the time or those who just slept through the sixties, here is a potted synopsis of what I believe happened. France was the ruling colonial power in Vietnam for 100 years until WW2. At this time the nationalist freedom movement, headed by Ho Chi Minh was based in the north. After WW2 France sought to recover the territory and the country was divided between the communist north and the south ruled by Diem, a Christian despot/ puppet supported by France and increasingly the US. Unifying elections were promised but never materialised and the stage was set for a bloody guerilla war by rebels in the south (Viet Cong) supported by the North and other communist powers. The official Vietmanese history never refers to other countries military support for the North or the perceived threat of communist expansion that escalated the US involvement, nor mentions those Vietmanese in the south who opposed the communist regime. Nevertheless the impact of the war on the people and land of Vietnam was devastating.
The next day we took a trip 70 km to the north east of Saigon to Cu Chi, where the Viet Cong operated from a network of tunnels 278 km long.






We were surprised to discover that our guide, Mr Binh, was a Vietmanese who had grown up in the US and returned as a captain of the US Navy fighting the VC in the Cu Chi area.


At last we got a broader picture, "the war was fought between many countries and there were no real winners.."
Mr Binh himself decided to stay on after the war in 1975 and was sent to a 'retraining camp' for 5 years, on mine-clearing duties. His family escaped by boat and are now settled in Australia.
He now gives spellbinding first-hand accounts of the conflict with the Viet Cong.
We returned to Saigon by boat,



passing Br Binh's old US Navy base in a somewhat somber and reflective mood. The world has changed a great deal over the last 50 years -surely such a conflict could never happen again?
When asked how Vietmanese people like communism today, Br Binh replies "they like the US dollar!"

Location:Saigon