Shelley's Birthday Trip - Ho Chi Mihn City (Part 1A - Special Insert)

I mentioned in the previous post that we had some awesome adventures as we visited war exhibits and historic places while in Ho Chi Mihn City, yet I never included anything about those places...  I wanted to keep the first post upbeat and happy...

Here is a little more detail about Independence Palace (AKA Reunification Palace). and the War Remnants Museum.  Not so happy places.

Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum.  As a Canadian with close ties physically and emotionally to the USA this was a very difficult place to spend much time...  Originally when built in 1975 it was called "Exhibition House for US and Puppet Regime Crime"   In 1990 it was renamed to "The Exhibition House for Crime of War of Aggression"   Finally in 1995 the name was changed to what it is today.

That all said, by now you get the idea that this place is not very sympathetic to the people of South Vietnam or the United States.   They, as victors have recorded history in a very different way that what folks at home have learned over the years.

The outside of the museum pretty much delivered what I expected from a museum like this.  The yard was filled with military equipment as it would have been in that time.

 We saw dozens of local school children here when we were here.  After going inside it broke my heart that these kids had to see what they did...  It seems Vietnamese people are entirely unwilling to gloss over, of let go of any of the suffering they experienced through these years, and they want their children to know all about it...

Once inside the story from the "other" side became very evident.  An entire wing was dedicated to the use and fallout of Agent Orange.

We spent at least two hours looking at this place.  It will forever be in our minds....

In the afternoon, we made our way to the Independence Palace.  The grounds were beautiful and at one end of the grounds two very obvious North Vietnamese tanks were on display.  Those were the tanks that broke through the walls pretty much ending the war.

This was taken from the Internet.  I am not sure why the tank numbers don't match.

The inside of the building has been beautifully preserved and shows the two very different uses for this space...  The upper floors were clearly dedicated to functions of the state, while at the same time this was a major communication hub for American and South Vietnamese leadership...

Complete with a movie theater

 I remember this image very clearly as a kid.  This was my most vivid memory of the war....

And here is that same roof today....

Way down below we had a chance to see where the top decisions were made in Saigon....  It is very quiet in this basement now.

The presidents car.