American and European visitors stand in the corridors of the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, listening to accounts of a conflict they helped shape, whose humanitarian and environmental effects remain present decades after its end. The museum presents the war’s memory from a Vietnamese perspective, highlighting US military intervention and its repercussions on civilians, families, and the environment.
Documents and Traces of Destruction
The museum, established on September 4, 1975, displays photographs, documents, military equipment, and audio-visual materials that shed light on the war, not only from a military angle but also through its effects on civilians, families, and the environment. Inside the museum halls, visitors move between images documenting the effects of bombing and destruction on residential areas, while audio guides provide accounts of civilian suffering during the years of conflict.
Agent Orange and Journalists
The museum’s sections display documents and photos showing the damage inflicted on residential areas, as well as the health and environmental effects of chemicals used by the US military during the war. Among the exhibits are photos documenting the use of "Agent Orange" by US forces, a chemical used to remove vegetation and forests during the war. The museum dedicates sections to displaying the health and environmental damages associated with this substance, alongside stories of Vietnamese people who still face its consequences.
The "Memory" exhibition includes 275 photos taken by 134 journalists and photographers from 11 nationalities who died while carrying out their duties on the battlefields of Indochina or went missing during their work there. One of the museum’s most prominent sections is the photo exhibition titled "Memory," prepared by British photojournalists Tim Page and Horst Faas, with the assistance of the Vietnam News Agency.
Historical Context
The Vietnam War broke out in 1955, in the context of the Cold War, between the country’s north and south, before its scope expanded with the rise of US military support for South Vietnam. The 1960s witnessed an escalation in US military intervention, characterized by widespread bombing operations and the use of chemicals to remove vegetation. In 1973, the Paris Agreement was signed and US troops withdrew from Vietnam, but fighting continued until the fall of Saigon in April 1975, ending the war and unifying the country.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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