Agent Orange

This morning I returned to the War Remnants Museum, to see the exhibitions I missed on my previous visit on Thursday. I went straight to the Agent Orange exhibit, which featured photographs of second- and third-generational effects of the chemical defoliant used by the US Armed Forces in Vietnam. At least 7.2 million litres of toxic chemicals were sprayed across Vietnam, particularly in the south and central regions, between 1961 and 1971, including 44 million litres of Agent Orange. These figures come from the US Defence Department; other figures have higher estimates of the total volume of chemicals used. A study from the University of Columbia states that 2.1-4.8 million Vietnamese were directly affected by these chemicals, although the figure is usually cited as three million. Countless more, however, have been indirectly affected, through traces of Agent Orange transferred through breast milk, from the food chain within a contaminated environment, or by augmented DNA molecules that have been passed down to younger generations. The effects on new-born children are varied and devastating, including brain damage, paralysis, stunted growth, missing limbs, fingers or toes, missing eyes or blindness, skin augmentations, tumours, cleft palates and other deformities such as two elbows in one arm, or two knees in one leg. Cancer and other diseases can be developed as a consequence of the presence of Agent Orange in the body.

This girl was born in 2008

The substance within Agent Orange that causes these deformities in humans is dioxin, recognised universally in the field of science as the most harmful and toxic chemical ever discovered by mankind. I personally feel that the American chemical companies that supplied dioxin to the US Armed Forces in full knowledge of what it would be used for, and the effects it would have, are complicit in the crimes of war that the US government are accountable for. To see the effect that these chemicals have had on generations of Vietnamese people is truly appalling and inexcusable. This sense of injustice is perfectly encapsulated in a wonderfully-expressed letter displayed in this room, sent to Barack Obama in 2009 from Tran Thi Hoan, a Vietnamese woman born in 1986 with no legs and only one hand.  In her letter, she asks Obama for recognition and compensation for the Vietnamese children suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, in reference to a public letter the president wrote to his daughters, sharing his dream that they, and all children across the world, would have every chance “to learn, dream, grow and thrive”, with no limit to their ambitions. Hoan writes about her personal story- the distress of her parents at seeing her at birth, and how her dream to become a doctor was never realised because she wasn't accepted into medical school with her condition. There is no social security in this country, meaning that those who are born with disabilities can face very real difficulties surviving. This is why so many of the people begging on the streets have stunted growth, missing limbs or facial deformities.

Upstairs was an exhibition called Historical Truths, which briefly mapped the course of the war through photographs and brief descriptions, from Ho Chi Minh’s Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, to the attempts of the French to re-establish control, the increasing financial and material involvement of the USA, US escalation following the Geneva Accords in 1954, and finally coming to a crashing end with the tanks of the  North Vietnamese Army rolling over the gates of the presidential palace and taking Saigon. This room does not provide a full explanation of the events of the war and the reasons behind them, but the photography collection is interesting for somebody who already understands the general course of the war. This room should probably be viewed first when visiting the museum, then working downwards. Finally I looked at an exhibition called Requiem, a collection of photographs taken by press photographers who were killed during the course of the war. These included images of warfare alongside countryside scenes, and snapshots of rural Vietnamese life, giving a larger sense of place and dimension than other exhibitions in this museum, which focus solely on the gruesome and shocking images.

My conclusions of the War Remnants Museum from my two visits are that it is a very interesting place to visit, although information about the course of the war is thin. Reasons for the development of the war such as ideology, power and historical context were not given anywhere, as far as I could find. So I wouldn't recommend this museum as a starting point for learning about the Vietnam War. But I would recommend it for the well-crafted, if partisan-to-the-point-of –propaganda exhibitions, and some of the unique exhibits, such as the American planes and tanks in the grounds of the building, banners from demonstrations across the world against US involvement in Vietnam, and the jars containing foetuses stillborn due to the effects of the dioxin in Agent Orange (although some people may prefer not to see the last one).  As somebody who’s really interested in history, it’s great to be able to be in a part of the world where I can visit a museum about the Vietnam war, and particularly interesting that it is presented from the communist perspective.

Peace statue on the top floor of the museum