rod mclaughlinIn which he continues his exploration of Vietnam (09 mar 18)
After two years and three months, I'm continuing my bike tour of Vietnam. In November 2015, I finished a tour of northern Vietnam in the historic town of Khe San, just below what used to be the demilitarised zone (DMZ). This time, I flew to Huế, intending to continue south. I will visit Da Nang, Hoi An and the site of the My Lai massacre, which was fifty years ago this month. American troops murdered between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians.
Less well known, is the war crimes committed by the North Vietnamese and their guerilla allies in the south, during the glorious Tet Offensive, which sacrificed thousands of Vietnamese on both sides in an unsuccessful assault on major targets in the south, but which did weaken US public support for the war, by showing them that their leaders were lying about imminent victory. It's amazing how often that happens.
According to Wikipedia, "The Battle of Huế began on January 31, 1968, and lasted a total of 26 days. During the months and years that followed, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Huế. Victims included women, men, children, and infants". The heroic soldiers of Ho Chi Minh's armies, led by famous general Võ Nguyên Giáp, murdered whole families because the father was a landlord or collaborator. Not that different from the crimes of the Nazis, masked by references to class struggle.
I've seen the old imperial city and a museum of captured American weapons, but no reference to the Huế massacre yet. Back
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