7 Historical Sites To Learn About Vietnam War

tuivodanh

Registered user
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
US
A trip to Vietnam would not be complete without visiting historical sites and learn about Vietnam War. Here are the 7 best places in viet nam to learn about the conflict.


1.Hoa Lo Prison - Ha Noi

While historical museums in Ha Noi are mostly rather propagandist and perhaps superficial, Hoa Lo Prison can be a good fit to catch up on the city’s back story. Despite many modern restorations, it offers a real sense of the past.

Head to the gloomy rooms to see erstwhile prison cells which witnessed the incarceration of the US pilots, including Senator John McCain and more importantly, the ghastliness and barbarity that many Vietnamese nationalist leaders and revolutionaries suffered during the French colony. https://exploreonevietnam.com/things-to-do-in-hanoi-vietnam/


2. Vinh Moc Tunnels


Whereas the more famous Củ Chi Tunnels were used for military purposes, the tunnels at Vịnh Mốc were used by civilians. Approximately 300 people lived and worked in this multi-tiered system of tunnels for over six years, staying underground to avoid American bombers.

The three-level system is nearly 2km long. There are kitchens, wells, spaces for healthcare, and rooms where 94 families lived underground for years. As many as 17 children were born in the tunnels during the war.



The system is also testament to the endurance, wisdom and bravery of the local population. Rather than flee, 350 Vinh Moc villagers chose to create a series of interconnected bomb shelters from 1965 to 1966.

3. My Lai Village

Lying near the country town of Quang Ngai, My Lai is considered as the symbol of the war crime as over 500 innocent people (mostly children and women) in My Lai village were massacred in one of the war’s most gruesome events.

Today there is a memorial built-up and surrounded by the graves of the victims, buried in family groups amongst the trees and rice paddies. Visitors walk amongst the memorial on brown concrete pathways that are imprinted with army boots and bare feet to represent the chaos of the massacre.

4. Cu Chi Tunnels
While Ho Chi Minh City is always full of landmarks to visit and entertainment venues to experience, Cu Chi Tunnels is regarded as a rewarding spot that you will find it difficult to miss when you are in the city.

This affirmation is based on the valuable comments and reviews of countless tourists who been there before; it is possible to say that hard-to-describe feelings from the visit always cling to themselves even though it has ended for a long time https://exploreonevietnam.com/things-to-do-in-ho-chi-minh-city/

The site is depicted as a glorious chapter in the Vietnamese history and proves the fact that the former Vietnamese people were truly creative, smart, and unyielding in the war against the invaders on their land.

Experiences you can have during the trip consist of crawling through dark narrow tunnels to reach the underground kitchens, bedrooms, and weapon storage facilities, witnessing dangerous traps the Vietnamese guerillas once utilized to defeat the enemies, and tasting their staple food during the hard time of war.

5.The War Remnants Museum
The War Remnants Museum is one of the must-see places in Ho Chi Minh City that first opened to the public in 1975.

It is a lively evidence of one of the longest and most brutal time of Vietnam War with many artifacts, photos, weapons and war equipments of American military on display such as fighter planes, guillotines, helicopter with rocket launchers, canons, tanks and nearly 6.8 tones of conventional bomb.



All the weapons were used by American military soldiers during the war lasted from 1945s to 1975. The other highlight of War Remnants Museum is “tiger cages” which was built with the same size as in Con Dao prison.

These cages used by the Southern Vietnamese Government to keep the political prisoners. It used to keep up to 14 people inside just with 2.7m x 1.5m x 3m each.


The museum also has some galleries imitated the Southwest Border War, the war to protect the northern borders, the plot and scheme of the hostile forces… The museum also has pavilions where display the traditional culture of Vietnam and Water Puppet Room.

Location: 28 Vo Van Tan, in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: Daily from 07.30 – 12.00 and 13:30 – 17:00

6. Independence Palace

Captured in the historic 1975 photograph of a North Vietnamese military tank crashing through its gates, The Independence Palace played a pivotal role in the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War.

The interior of the palace has remained nearly intact since it was built as a residence of the South Vietnamese president in 1966. Its desolate halls and rooms are time capsules, displaying period-style furnishings and motifs–conference rooms, reception halls, a war room, a telecommunication center, and tunnels in the basement.



Check out the president’s living quarters, featuring bizarre decorations, such as actual elephant feet. At the entrance you can see a Vietnamese T-54 tank and the roof is topped with a model of a presidential helicopter.

7.Con Dao Prison Complex https://exploreonevietnam.com/things-to-do-in-vietnam


For 42 years since the prisons of Con Dao were shut down, horrific memories still cast a forbidding shadow over this quiet town.

Known as “the true hell on earth,” this used to be home to tens of thousands of Vietnamese prisoners who suffered and died at the hands of French colonials at first and later the US-backed South Vietnamese government between 1863 and 1975. Fettered and contorted mannequins bring the bone-chilling experience to reality.
 


Back
Top Bottom