History is written by the victors & the Khe Sanh museum certainly captures one version of the Vietnam war. The photos, images & reporting depict a gloriously powerful victor who easily scared off the US foe. Photograph captions are adorned with phrases such as 'Image of the petrified & desperately weak Amercians scurrying from the might of our troops' & 'The Americans had to toilet in their bunkers because they were hemmed in by firing.' The Allied troops evacuated this battleground in a hurry & left a lot of equipment behind, some of which is displayed in the museum & some of which still stands where it was left. There were of course, the obligatory Vietnam war paraphernalia sales touts at the site. We chose not to buy anything but are amazed that there is still so much 'memorabilia' left behind from a war 40 years ago & that so many people seem to believe it to be authentic. While some of it might be, Vietnam & other SE Asian countries have the means & wherewithal to be able to recreate anything so there seems a high likelihood that these items may have been created too!
I had never really identified with the lyrics of the Cold Chisel song but have since googled them & found them depressing & confronting.
Top 5
1. Bearing witness to history is always humbling
2. The bunkers & equipment in situ provide a unique insight into the size of the conflict
3. Photographic evidence of an historical event is compelling
4. We are thankful that it is 40 years since this event & it can be remembered (in the streets of Vietnam) but hopefully never repeated
5. We have been provided with the opportunity to reflect on this war & the commercialisation that has been borne out of it. It bears thinking about.
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