Going Back to Vietnam After the War

By Thomas P. Williams | Vietnam  | one comment  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

After getting settled into our rooms, it was off for a visit to the ‘Hanoi Hilton,’ the prison where American prisoners of war were kept. There was now a real hotel being built at this site, but part of the walls of the original building were still standing. From there we went to a park located in downtown Hanoi, where a MiG was on display. A few pieces of a Boeing B-52 bomber were also on display, as well as a SAM missile battery of the type that had been used to shoot down the American bombers. The MiG was labeled as the first one to shoot down one of our B-52s, but we all realized this was probably propaganda and just laughed about it.

We were taken to a Vietnamese restaurant for our evening meal. Our first entertainers were all dressed in traditional clothing, and the women were truly beautiful. When we looked at the men, it was hard not to see the faces of the enemy we had seen 30 years beforehand, lying dead in the paddies of South Vietnam. Old memories I would like to forget. After the meal we entertained the Vietnamese by singing the Marine Corps hymn. In honor of our Navy corpsmen, we also sang ‘Anchors Away.’

I don’t think any of us slept too long our first night in Hanoi–partly from exhaustion and partly from excitement–but the sleep we did get was sound.

Day two saw us on our tour of Hanoi, a town filled with thousands of bikes and very few automobiles. It was amazing to see all that traffic and no reasonable pattern to it–everyone just seemed to go where they felt like. We were amazed that we did not see any accidents. Our first stop of the day was at a statue of Senator John McCain hanging from his parachute. This was where he was supposed to have been shot down and captured. I had brought along the Marine Corps flag that I had carried during my tour in Vietnam. We pulled out the flag and everyone in our group had their picture taken with it at the statue.

Next we visited Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. I was impressed how tastefully he was displayed. It is hard to express what I felt seeing Ho Chi Minh lying there–he appeared as if he had just lain down to take a nap. We also toured Ho’s home and office. I was impressed by how stately the building was, and it amazed me that the U.S. government had never decided to bomb it. I wondered how many American lives could have been saved if we had bombed this one building, or all of Hanoi.

Our next stop was at the Temple of Literature, which was very beautiful. How and why this temple was built was explained in great detail by our Vietnamese guide. I feel it was one of the most interesting sites we visited while in Hanoi. We visited the War Museum next, and I was not impressed with that because it was mostly a propaganda display. The Dien Bien Phu exhibit was the only display of any real interest, and I was amazed at its display and video presentation. I also had the opportunity to discuss my war experiences with a Canadian schoolteacher who was touring the country on her own.

We stopped at the new U.S. Embassy and delivered a plaque for the ambassador from the 2/4 association, presented to a representative by General Weise and Ed Garr. We were not allowed inside the relatively small building, but we did take more pictures of our Marine Corps flag outside of the embassy.

At the end of the day we went shopping, and what a trip it was. We found some really good bargains and had a great time–we learned to not accept the first price given but to barter for a lower price. Most of the salespeople spoke English well enough to converse with us. It was a very interesting experience to be walking around Hanoi as if we were back in Vermontville. At no time during our visit did we feel threatened.

Day three brought an early wake-up call to catch a flight to Da Nang and begin touring the places where most of us had fought so long ago. For many of us this would prove to be the toughest part of our tour, emotionally. I was filled with tension as we landed on the runway in Da Nang. It had been 28 years since I left this same place to return home after my tour had been completed. After collecting our baggage, we sang the Marine hymn in front of the airport terminal, as we had done on our departure from our hotel in Hanoi.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Vietnam War

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