Upon entry, you can pick up a useful little map of the museum, letting you know what is in each area. You are supposed to visit the sections in number order and there are set routes throughout each section, although these can be confusing at times. The need to view the museum in the correct order will vary, depending on your background knowledge of the conflict. Those with little knowledge should make more of an effort to view the exhibits in order to aid comprehension.

There are some excellent photographs depicting the Vietnam War throughout the museum as a whole, but the majority can be found in the first section, which deals with the history of the war. There are some excellent sections devoted to the war correspondents who perished in the conflict, together with covers and articles they had written from magazines such as ’Time’.

The other sections include weapons used in the Vietnam War, including experimental missiles developed by the U.S., and the infamous Agent Orange and Napalm rocket casings. With these, they also showed photos of those people deformed by these weapons and an unnecessary preserved, deformed foetus in a medical jar.

The other sections contained photos from demonstrations around the world, the liberation, and other propaganda from the era. In addition to all of this, they show a film in the first section which is mainly about how Agent Orange effected the country then and how it still does today. Some people will find this very interesting, as it deals with individuals and how they have been affected. It is, however, thin on facts and information about the conflict itself.

There is a small gift shop on-site which also sells film, batteries, and refreshments. The gifts range from general arts and crafts to Zippos, dog tags, and empty shells, all distressed to look as if they were from the actual conflict.

If you have to visit one place while in Ho Chi Minh City, this should be the place.

Admission 10,000D

Opening Times
7:30-11:45am
1:30-5:15pm

Of the photo displays, one of the most thought provoking I reckon isn’t the photos of various battles or military views but of the photojournalists themselves, and the adventures they had and risks they took to get a story back home.

The museum was known, in less politically correct times, as the Museum Of American War Crimes, and while the name may have been changed to avoid offending the sensibilities of US tourists the museum itself continues to pull no punches when confronting it’s former enemy. On the way in you are handed a leaflet entitles "Some Pictures of US Imperialist Aggressive War Crimes In Vietnam" to put you in the mood of what is to come.

The museum kicks off in the courtyard with a fairly standard collection of military hardware, armoured vehicles, artillery shells, etc with pride of place given over to a Douglas Skyraider plane, but in one of the corners you get your first hint that there is something different about this museum as there sits a rather gruesome looking guillotine used first by the French and later by the Diem regime to deal with the Viet Minh sent to the central prison at Ly Tu Trong.

The exhibition halls at first appear to be your standard collection of infantry weaponry and black and white photographs that make up these sort of museums all over the world but closer examination starts revealing something altogether more disturbing. The photos show scenes of torture, shots of burns and deformities induced by chemical warfare and shots of civilian massacres, the curios include experimental weapons deployed against the locals and pickle deformed foetuses that are enough to drive even those with the strongest of stomachs looking for the exit.

Next up is a mock-up of the "Tiger Cages" which were used to hold the Viet Cong prisoners in truly inhumane conditions at the prison on the dreaded Con Son Island where many died from disease, malnutrition and mistreatment. Finally there is a new exhibition hall that starts to go a little way to re-addressing the balance of the museum, with shots of the worldwide peace movement and stories and reconciliation gifts from some of the US servicemen that took part in the war.

The museum is undeniable biased in its telling of the war of independence and may be lacking in its academic credentials, but if you want to experience the true horrors of war without actually going to war this is the place to come.