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Vietnam’s War Remnants Museum

Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Photo of Shells on display at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Vietnam // Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam· military· museums & galleries· Southeast Asia Location: [post_gps_latitude], [post_gps_longitude]

You don’t have to be in Vietnam long to see the scars of the decades of war the country has endured. Here the war isn’t known as the Vietnam War. It’s variously referred to as the “US War Against Vietnam,” the “US War in Vietnam,” the “US Aggressive War in Vietnam,” or the “American War.”

The scars aren’t just physical–although there are plenty of those. Vietnam may have defeated the United States, but it’s harder to say they won.

The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City documents the costs of the war. It’s aimed squarely at foreign visitors–you won’t find many locals here. The tone isn’t one of victory, but one of victim. The museum amounts to an extensive catalog of the appalling legacy of war.

Outside the building is a range of American military hardware that had been captured or abandoned, much of it handed over to the South Vietnamese regime. There’s a F-111 fighter-bomber jet, Chinook helicopters, tanks, more planes, and a display of unexploded ordnance. Because so many of the items on display are American, if one was to squint and not read the text of the information boards, you could be forgiven for thinking this might be an American museum. It’s as if to say, “Look at all this technology and military firepower the Americans had. And yet they still lost.” That theme is reinforced inside with a table showing an accounting that shows just how much military hardware the United States poured in for its own use and for its South Vietnamese allies.

Outside the building there’s also a display of the gruesome prison conditions set up first by the French colonial government and then adopted by the South Vietnamese government. Southeast Asia is not renowned for the comfort of its jails at the best of times, and these were particularly inhumane. There’s a guillotine–a frequent symbol of the French colonial years–some of the brutal tiger cages used for punishment, and several original cells into which far too many prisoners were crammed.

Inside the museum consists of rooms dedicated to a particular theme. There’s one on the effects of the use of Agent Orange and Napalm by American and South Vietnamese forces with graphic photos, one on the legacy of unexploded munitions, one on “Historical Truths,” and another “Aggression and Atrocities.” There are showcases with American rifles and machine guns, American bullets and artillery shells, American uniform and packs, and a large exhibit featuring the photographs from war photographers around the world.

This is a museum run and sanctioned by the Vietnamese government and is an entirely one-sided affair, much of which falls squarely into propaganda territory. And inconvenient history is entirely absent–the museum does not, for example, detail the Communist forces’ treatment of those deemed “unpatriotic.” At the same time, there are basic facts that can’t be dismissed. The war had appalling consequences for the civilian population of Vietnam. Agent Orange and other chemical agents left a horrifying legacy. Unexploded ordnances continue to kill and maim people even today.

Yet there’s no real effort at objectivity. But the museum’s curators have gone to great lengths to create the illusion of it. It’s striking how American actions and words damned them and was used as fuel. Quotes by Senator Wayne Morse, a vocal critic of the Vietnam War on Capitol Hill, by Robert McNamara, Curtis LeMay, and President Eisenhower, are all featured prominently. And photographs, with their implication of “objective truth,” are used extensively throughout. They’re graphic and damning. And there’s a lot of them.

Throughout, the “patriots,” as North Vietnamese loyalists are called, are oddly absent. They are there in spirit throughout the museum, but there’s no real discussion of them or their methods–and certainly no celebration. They’re treated not as heroic but rather as stoic, as doing their duty for the greater good.

Photos of the War Remnants Museum

Photo of Outside of War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Agent Orange Aftermath exhibit at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Rifles and Machine Guns on War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Effect of Agent Orange exhibit at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Chinook outside the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Agent Orange exhibit War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in War Remnants Museum Ho Chi Minh City

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Photo exhibit at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Howitzer exhibit at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of ARMY stencil on Chinook outside the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of War photographer exhibit at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Tiger Cages at the War Remnants Museum

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Exhibit Room at War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of Guillotine and Tiger Cage from Prison at War Remnants Museum Ho Chi Minh City

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Photo of F-111 Bomber outside the War Remnants Museum Vietnam

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

What to Know Before You Go

Captions on exhibits are in Vietnamese and English.

It’s not a big museum. You can easily move through it in an hour or two.

You’ll get more out of it if you read about Vietnam War before you go. Much of the text crosses squarely in propaganda territory, but it does so with actual evidence. It can’t simply be dismissed, but it also can’t be taken at face value. If you’ve done your own research, you’ll be better informed to make up your own mind.

On balance, the museum isn’t really kid-friendly. Kids will probably get a kick out of the planes, helicopters, and tanks, in the courtyard. The jail replica is disturbing, but not necessarily more so than a trip to the Tower of London. But the photos on the upper floors, showing the effects of Agent Orange and unexploded ordnance, are very graphic indeed and likely to be pretty disturbing for kids.

Where to Next?

  • Vietnam Military History Museum Tank Exhibit
    Hanoi's Vietnam Military History Museum
  • Vietnam Museum of Revolution Statue and Artillery
    Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution
  • Ho Chi Minh City Hall in Saigon at Night
    Ho Chi Minh City Hall
  • World War I Exhibit at Military Museum in Lisbon Portugal
    Lisbon’s Military Museum
  • Great Court of the British Museum in London
    The British Museum
  • hue 02 copyright havecamerawilltravel com - Vietnam's Perfume River
    Vietnam's Perfume River
  • Nuclear missiles
    National Museum of the United States Air Force
  • Monte Olivia Ushuaia with Clouds
    Ushuaia, The World's Most Southern City
  • Churchill War Rooms London Updating Map
    The Churchill War Rooms


Travel Advice for Vietnam

You can find the latest U.S. Department of State travel advisories and information for Vietnam (such as entry visa requirements and vaccination requirements) here.

The British and Australian governments offer their own country-specific travel information. You can find the British Government's travel advice for Vietnam here and the Australian Government's here.

Health & Vaccinations

The CDC makes country-specific recommendations for vaccinations and health for travelers. You can find their latest information for Vietnam here.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.


Location: War Remnants Museum
Country: Vietnam
Coordinates:
      Latitude: 10.77942478
      Longitude: 106.69205447

      # Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam
      # military
      # museums & galleries
      # Southeast Asia



About David Coleman

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living.

I’m based in Washington, DC.

You can find my photography gear reviews and tips at havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.

Licensing & Prints

Looking for travel stock photos or prints? I might be able to help. You can search my collection here:

If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.

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Photos by David Coleman. Please contact me for licensing images.
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