WARNING: CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL AND IMAGES
The Communist Party retained it's monopoly on power and immediately following the Fall Of Saigon conducted a political purge in the south. Many political officials were killed but less than the bloodbath Washington had predicted. Thousands of political and military officials were sent to reeducation programs to undergo physical and mental discomfort better known as tortue. Many were forced out of the cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, to work in new agricultural areas and get the country back on an economic track.
Vietnam had always been a poor country and now it was a devastated bombed out poor country with agriculture being it's best option for growth. Any means possible were used to raise funds including sending 200,000 workers to China and confiscating 40% of their pay. Left were the fragments of war in the form of scrap metal which kept the recycling furnaces busy for years to come. Over one billion dollars of unused U.S. Military equipment was left behind and Vietnam became an exporter of surplus American war parts and machines.
Famine and failed economic policies plagued the new Republic for years until a new socialist incentive reform was instituted. One such reform was opening up to capitalism and going against everything they had fought so hard for, the other was tourism. Vietnam became a tourist destination for the world and in doing so it advertised a "David and Goliath" war victory over the United States.
All brochures and pamphlets are on display in THE ART OF WAR exhibit.
WAR REMNANTS IN VIETNAM is a popular tourist attraction in Ho Chi Minh City and is a collection of war memorabilia left from the Vietnam War. Tourists from all over the world come to this museum and are handed this brochure. In it are pictures and descriptions of atrocities committed by American soldiers during the war. To the average non American young adult the images reflect a horrifying glimpse into the U.S. War machine and what it is capable of. This is how the world see's Americans.
INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES
PAGES IN BROCHURE
The brochure ends with a color photo of the My Lai Massacre.
On March 16, 1968 U.S. soldiers of the Americal Division executed as many as 500 women, children, and old men in the most horrific atrocity of the Vietnam War. Soldiers of the 1st Platoon commanded by 1st Lt. William Laws Calley, Jr indiscriminately shot people then rounded up the survivors, led them to a ditch, and execute them. Equally horrific was the coverup of the incident by the army. Lack of leadership by Jr. Officers such as Shake and Bakes were cited as one of the reasons for the incident by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Army.
The Vietcong had infiltrated an area strategic to the supply route between Cambodia's Ho Chi Minh Trail and the outskirts of Saigon and Delta was sent in to clear it out. It was heavy jungle and movement was slow which ultimately helped alert our adversaries as we hacked our way through triple canopy growth. After a day of relentless exhaustion we saw no signs of Vietcong activity and unsure of our position we set up for the night.
This was a very large area to cover for our small unit so we were joined by the rest of the company including an additional officer. We were trained to work alone without supervision and taking orders was hard but today we had no choice. Most of the field officers were ROTC (reserve officers training corp) and were right out of college. They served weekends and studied military tactics in school but had little to no experience in combat. Apon graduation the army gave them officer status which meant we had to follow orders from non-experienced college students our own age. Most times they were useless so we simply called them "Shake and Bakes". We knew it was going to be a farce the moment we laid eyes on him. He had two pearl handled revolvers strapped to his hips and not only did he look rediculous but he was useless.
The Captain's compass readings had been off all day and rather than ask one of us for help he continued to give orders right up until dark. As we took turns on guard duty and sleeping the Captain was busy planning the next days activities including trying to figure out our position.
A large explosion hit the tree line above us and rocked our position showering us with white hot glowing embers that sizzled their way downward sifting through the growth. It was a marking round.
Marking rounds were called in for various reasons and one reason was to get a fix on a location. Soldiers in the field would ask an artillery unit to fire a marking round into the distance and after the explosion we would count the time between the flash of light and the sound of the blast. By calculating the time between the two and converting it into a ratio comparing the speed of light and the speed of sound you can calculate distance and that distance gives you an approximate location. It's like watching a lightening and thunder storm on a hot summer night, we called it flash to bang. The marking round was an ingenious addition to the U.S. arsenal of new weapons. It was made of white phosphorous which when exposed to oxygen burns white hot at extremely high temperatures giving off a very bright light. The white phosphorous will continue to burn as long as oxigen is present.
This was not a morter attack common in this area but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. Putting on my steel pot to shield my head I hunkered down and watched the glowing embers floating through the air sizzling their way to earth. Watching fireflies on a hot summer night my mind wandered for a bit until the smell and cries of burning flesh permiated the air. There was no stopping the white phosphorous on its death march until it burned out or oxygen was withdrawn from its presence. It sizzled right through them leaving the stench of burnt hair and meat behind. We could do nothing but watch and pray for a quick end. Four of our men lie dead.
Our pearl handled Shake and Bake called in a marking round with coordinates way to short and with an extended delayed timer it hit us in a direct assault that the Vietcong would have been proud of. We layed with the dead burnt bodies until daylight and the choppers could get in. Two helicopters came, one for the bodies and one to relieve the officer which was probably for the best. Shake and Bake's of his caliber don't last very long and are sometimes relieved of duty by friendly fire.
Life was cheap in Vietnam, not that Vietnam was different from any other madness associated with death and new ways of creating it. Capitalists were ingenious during the war years as the minions carried out their every whim. Another day came to an end in Southeast Asia with new memories etched into my mind.
Unlike the old world of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is a vibrant colorful city taking its place on the world stage. If I were to compare the two cities on my pallet I would paint Hanoi with earthtones and Saigon in pastels. I say Saigon at the request of the residents of the 8 million plus people that still refer to this new city in old terms, it's a paradox.
In America most families have two vehicles and if this theory holds true for Saigon there are 16,000,000 scooters within the city limits. Saigon is known as the scooter city and the normal rules of the road do not apply. There is no rhyme or reason to this mass hysteria call traffic and driving against traffic or on the sidewalk is acceptable behavior.
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Frank,I am pretty sure you will get this.When I hit post comment's at the bottom of HO Chi min and it says publish comment's I get wich user do you want.They show a bunch of symbols.The way I am writing you is to hit comments at the bottom.For instance some say 1,2,or no comment's.Then the drop down box appears and you can write.But, before I wrote you,and told you about the pictures ending on the Charlotte bridge it didn,t say anything at the bottom and just went into 2nd wind.Maybe they where trying then and got discouraged.I probably didn't explain myself well.On the other hand you been getting post all along.Like I was saying before it was a little confusing.Put this on the blog and maybe they will get it.I was wondering why no school kid's wrote.Write back and let me know if you got this and if you want me to do anyting else.Lil Bro
ReplyDeleteWhat are beehive bombs, and do we still use the marking rounds today? Does the museum in Ho Chi Minh City still hand out these brochures today, or just when they first opened? When you said "this is how the world sees Americans", I thought of your guide who said "The American Occupation"
ReplyDeleteJoneta.