War Memories From Inside Saigon

On our last Saturday in Vietnam we spent the majority of the day looking at things involving the Vietnam War.  We toured a few buildings first.  This hotel was one of the favorite hotels(up on the outdoor garden) where soldiers would meet with journalists and tell of their war experiences.

Ho Chi Minh, the father of the revolution.  His aim was to overthrow the colonialists. After the war the
name of the city Saigon was changed to his name.

The city hall.

Notre Dame Cathedral.  Much French influence from the colonial days.  The French were
 defeated in 1954.

The old Post Office, done in French architecture.

Inside the station.

The Imperial Palace, built in the 60's(when the other one was bombed).  This is where the President lived until he surrendered 0n April 30, 1975.

Inside the palace in a meeting room.

The next few pictures are from inside the Palace.  You can note the 70's style.

The windows were designed to prevent direct sunlight, and thus keep it cooler.

These are the palace gates through which North Vietnamese tanks crashed to bring the war to an end.

The actual Russian tanks are sitting off to the left of the gate.

More meeting and dining rooms in the palace.

On the roof at the back of the Palace.  A Huey helicopter and the two red circles are where a soldier hijacked a jet and tried to bomb the Palace.  The bombs hit and went through the roof where marked,
 but didn't go off.

A radio room in the basement bomb shelter.

Jeep which took the President to a radio station to surrender.

Everything was very anti-American, and the communists take great delight in gloating over their victory.

A picture in the basement of the Palace showing the tanks crashing through the gates.

Tanks doing "wheelies" on the grass.

People escaping by helicopter as the communists were taking the city of Saigon.

We next moved over to the War Museum. There were displays of American equipment in the outer yard.

Chinook helicopter.

"Bird dog plane"

Forget the name of this one.

President Clinton restored relationships with Vietnam in 1995

War weapons inside the museum.

There are a number of pictures inside the museum.

One of the most famous pictures taken during the war.