I thought my stay in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City would be many things: witnessing an overabundance of motorcycles, a lack of traffic rules, pho and a multitude of friendly people. What I didn’t expect was a sobering experience.
Warning: The following post and pictures are disturbing and illustrate the horror of war. Don’t view if you have a weak stomach!
I think we are all familiar with Vietnam War from images of helicopters landing in lush forests and popular films such as “Good Morning Vietnam”. However, I have to admit that I was a bit ignorant of the atrocities and shear violation of human rights that occurred during the war. The war remnants museum in Saigon did a great job of driving the point home that war is horrible and most of us cannot begin to imagine to shear suffering and pain people undergo when they are caught up in the middle of such a battle. On entering the museum, several photographs from the war illustrate this well.
One picture that is stained in my mind is of a group of women and children standing huddled together as if trying to shield themselves from danger. Reading the caption below gives context to the scene. The photographer writes:
“I saw this group of people huddled together, mothers protecting their children. Three GI’s stood with their guns pointed at them. I yelled to the soldiers to stop and I took several pictures (one displayed here). I turned and walked away and heard the machine guns open up. I did not look back.”
I realized that the picture documented the last moments of life for this group. A moment filled with fear, dread and other emotions I cannot possibly imagine and for the most part, don’t want to. Other pictures showed brothers hugging one another before being gunned down and yet another showed children, one of them a naked girl, running from a cloud of smoke screaming in agony from being badly burnt by napalm.
I remember the slight feeling of excitement I felt right before the “Shock and Awe campaign”. Large naval vessels and aircraft carriers stationed in the Gulf waiting for the order to release their ordinance. A piece of me didn’t want Saddam to surrender, a piece of me wanted to see the missiles shoot off into the night. How removed are we from the realities of war? I feel sick when I realize my ignorance. I can’t help but think that in a way, that juvenile and immature attitude is a major reason such atrocities occur.
The images from the war museum will echo in my memory for many weeks to come and in a way, I hope they stain my mind with the reality of war.
South East Asia