War Remnants Museum in Saigon

The War Remnants Museum is one of the most impressive and popular monuments in Ho Chi Minh City (old Saigon). The museum is attractive not only for Vietnamese but also for foreigners. The War Remnants Museum posesses a comprehensive collection of the machinery, weapons, photos, and documentation of Vietnam's wars with the both the French and Americans. It was once called the War Crimes Museum, which should give you an idea of whose side of the story is being told here.

Short of being outright recrimination, this museum is a call for peace and a hope that history is not repeated. Visiting this museum in Ho Chi Minh City, visitors are even asked to sign a petition against the kind of aerial carpet-bombing that so devastated the people of  Vietnam. The exhibit begins to the right of the entrance with a room listing war facts such as troop numbers, bomb tonnage, statistics on international involvement in the conflict, and numbers of casualties on both sides. Next is a room dedicated to the journalists lost during the war. The exhibits are constantly evolving, and the museum is currently expanding and modernizing, improving its presentation and explanations throughout, enabling the visitors to understand more clearly about the wars in Vietnam.

One room is devoted to biological warfare, another to weaponry, and another to worldwide demonstrations for peace. The explanations, which include English translations, are very thorough. In the museum, there is also a large collection of bombs, planes, tanks, and war machinery in the main courtyard. Kids will surely love it, but you might want to think twice before taking them inside to see things like wall-size photos of the My Lai massacre and the bottled deformed fetus supposedly damaged by Agent Orange. You should think whether it is good for them or not when you take them to see by themselves these photos. There is also a model of the French colonial prisons, called the Tiger Cages, on the grounds.

It can be said that your Ho Chi Minh City tour cannot be perfect if you don’t spend little of your time visiting this War Remnants Museum.

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