War Remnants Museum

The War Remnants Museum (Vietnamese: Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh) is a war museum at 28 Vo Van Tan, in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It primarily contains exhibits relating to the American phase of the Vietnam War.

Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States.

The museum comprises a series of eight themed rooms in several buildings, with period military equipment located within a walled yard. The military equipment include a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bomb, M48 Patton tank, and an A-1 attack bomber.

One building reproduces the "tiger cages" in which the South Vietnamese government housed political prisoners. Other exhibits include graphic photographs, accompanied by short copy in English, Vietnamese and Japanese, covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliant sprays, the use of napalm and phosphorus bombs, and atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. Curiosities include a guillotine used by the French and the South Vietnamese to execute prisoners, last in 1960, and three jars of preserved human fetuses deformed by exposure to dioxin.

There are a number of unexploded ordnance stored in the corner of the yard, seemingly with their charges removed.

Some other interesting Museums in Ho Chi Minh City:

Fine Arts Museum

A classic yellow-and-white building with a modest Chinese influence, the Fine Arts Museum, houses one of the more interesting collections in Vietnam, ranging from lacquer- and enamel-ware to contemporary oil paintings by Vietnamese and foreign artists. If that doesn’t sound enticing, just come to see the huge hall with its beautifully tiled floors. The 1st floor includes a display of officially accepted contemporary art: most of it is just kitsch or desperate attempts to master abstract art, but occasionally something brilliant is displayed here. Much of the recent art is for sale and prices are reasonable.

Military Museum

Just a short distance from the History Museum is a small Military Museum devoted to Ho Chi Minh’s campaign to liberate the south. Inside is of minor interest, but some US, Chinese and Soviet war material is on display outdoors, including a Cessna A-37 of the South Vietnamese Air Force and a US-built F-5E Tiger with the 20mm nose gun still loaded. The tank on display is one

Ho Chi Minh Museum

This museum is in the old customs house in District 4, just across Ben Nghe Channel from the quayside end of ÐL Ham Nghi. Nicknamed the ‘Dragon House’ (Nha Rong), it was built in 1863. The link between Ho Chi Minh and the museum building is tenuous: 21-year-old Ho, having signed on as a stoker and galley boy on a French freighter, left Vietnam from here in 1911 and thus began 30 years of exile in France, the Soviet Union, China and elsewhere.

Ton Duc Thang Museum

This small, seldom-visited museum is dedicated to Ton Duc Thang, Ho Chi Minh’s successor as president of Vietnam, who was born in Long Xuyen, An Giang province, in 1888. He died in office in 1980. Photos and displays illustrate his role in the Vietnamese Revolution, including a couple of very lifelike exhibits that represent the time he spent imprisoned on Con Son Island.