WAN

Saigon.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm starting this blog. It may be a culmination of what I'm thinking and intending to do in work and research, that plus succumbing to peer pressure and of finding something else to do in what little I have left of spare time.

Saigon City was a Communist pate (I coined that term for my friend who was describing what pate was, then laughed hysterically) experience of sorts. To actually see what I've only been reading about in tons of military history books at home was a blast, but the biased viewpoints and historical sites being somewhat of a touristy circus was not. Have to admit though - it was fun tramping around the Cu Chi tunnels and finally getting to fire an AK-47 and a Makarov 64K pistol. That 7.62mm AK round has a hell of a recoil compared to the 5.56mm, as we all know. Least I know how much recoil it is first hand now. Interestingly our guide was a translator for the ARVN during the war, working with US forces. There was also a tracked (disabled) US M41 Patton tank which was destroyed by a mine. Tourists were standing on the turret and taking photos like it was an army open house. My friend and I had the same sentiment - we found it disrespectful. The War Remnants Museum wasn't so great either. We all know how much propaganda goes into Communist writings and literature. But I really do think the photo exhibits of (Agent Orange, torture, Dioxin) victims need somewhat of a (pardon the expression) facelift. If you come in as a neutral observer with some semblance of history, you'd find half the images and captions doubtful.

The photo journalist section was something else though. Amongst Henri Huet, Eddie Adams and countless other names (half of them died in combat) there was a lone Singaporean combat journalist. I can't quite recall his name, but he was KIA as well. But it was Eddie Adams Pulitzer Prize winning photo (wasn't in the museum) of Brig Gen Nguyen Ngoc Loan putting his service revolver into the head of a VC insurgent in the middle of a street that prompted a heated (but friendly) discussion surrounding the Geneva Convention, human nature and war.

That photo was one of many that truly changed public opinion of the conflict. My argument (a little ironically in a nice French cafe in the heart of Saigon) was that it, like so many of the photos, lacked one thing - context. The VC murdered another South Vietnamese colonel and his whole family. Eddie Adams fully understood the General's actions. So did I, though I feel he could've done it in closed doors, not during the Tet Offensive in front of dozens of his own men. My friend was on the other side, basically arguing that we have to adopt the higher moral ground. So the argument went from rules of engagement to putting yourself in a grunt's (infantryman) shoes to peacekeeping to Iraq to Afghanistan to the hearts and minds approach. I won't bore you with the details. We sorta agreed to disagree. Next stop Dien Bien Phu...

Would you have killed the VC?

more photos here.