From Hao Lo Prison, Hanoi, to the War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

From Hao Lo to Chi Hoa

     

     Early on when I knew I was off to Hanoi, I determined that I would visit the "Hanoi Hilton" the nickname given to the prison which held American pilots, including Senator John McCain, who were shot down during the Vietnam War.  The true name of this prison, built by the French in 1896, was Maison Centrale but the locals called it Hao Lo, or Fiery Furnace, in reference to the village of Phu Khanh, the village known for making earthen pots and kettles which was displaced in order for the building of the French prison.  It was a large prison, the largest and most secure prison in Indochina at 12,908m2 or about eight square miles.  The remnants of that prison are now a tourist site in Hanoi within easy walking distance from Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and Truc Bach Lake were McCain was shot down.

   

     It is no surprise to me that this prison, where many political prisoners were held by the French, was a breeding ground of the Vietnamese Communist Party.  During the 1930s the Party reports that it turned the Hao Lo Prison into a "revolutionary school."  Many future political leaders of the communist party were held prisoner here. Although Ho Chi Minh was never imprisoned here,  he did spend time in jail in China.

     Here's how that happened: in the early 1940s, Japan took control of much of Indochina.  At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek's (Chinese) police were patrolling the China/Vietnam border and came upon a man claiming to be a representative of the Vietnamese patriots.  He called himself Ho Chi Minh, and he wanted to see the authorities in Chungking.  So, he was arrested.  After being shackled and marched from prison to prison, he was released 18 months later and returned to Vietnam. 

     I have visited the Hao Lo Prison Museum several times and am now slightly amused at the descriptions on the signs, particularly in the rooms dedicated to the downed American pilots.  Let me quote a few examples.  "During the wartime in Vietnam when people faced numerous difficulties and shortages in their daily life, US prisoners of war including pilots were humanely treated by the Vietnamese Government which gave them the best possible living conditions."  Another states this:

 "In the prison, captured pilots were created favourable conditions for entertainment, cultural and sports activities, chess playing, listening to Voice of Vietnam radio (English broadcasts), watching films and enjoying music."  (In case you were to questions these assertion, there are pictures to show evidence.)  There are also many quotes and pictures of pilots who have returned to the prison.

     Here is the quote that sticks in my brain the most, however.  "Vietnamese people always bestow the most beautiful appreciation for American peace lovers.  "Finding Memories" (the name of the display showing returning prisoners) is the opportunity to develop greater pride for their victory- a 20th century miracle for American pilots to recall a serene period of their lives as well as for each and every visit to understand the severe destruction and painfully grim nature of war in order to call for all people to dedicate our efforts to build world of peace and love."  I wonder if all pilots recall their time in the Hanoi Hilton as a "serene period".  Another sign, which I did not copy down, unfortunately, talks about the prison time as an opportunity for pilots to consider their "crimes".  History is written by the winners- unless you have a free press.

     Well, I hope you aren't tired of reading about prisons and the importance of a free press yet.  From Hanoi we traveled south to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon,  and visited the top rated museum in south east Asia.  This visit took us to The War Remnants Museum, entirely devoted to the Vietnam (or American) War.  It's hard to walk through the three stories of this museum and laugh off the obvious bias of the descriptions, and certainly not the gruesome reality of the pictures (often taken, one might note, by American journalists).  

     Outside this museum are tanks, planes, etc. and tucked away in a corner of the courtyard is an area of a sample from the prison, complete with gruesome torture devices.  I didn't explore this area long and went into the courtyard for air.  This sample prison was never, in fact, part of a prison.  This isn't the prison that the French built; that prison, Maison Centrale de Saigon, was replaced in 1941, during the Japanese occupation, by the Chi Hoa Prison, which remains the prison today. 

     The Chi Hoa Prison was very busy following the Vietnam War, but I didn't see any discussion at the War Remnants Museum of the re-education prisoners.  (Granted, I didn't fully explore all of the museum.) It has been said that there were anywhere between 1- 2.5 million people placed in re-education camps.  The prisoners might have been there for minor crimes or more major ones- like being part of the South Vietnamese Army or working with the Americans.  In the mid 1980s many camps were closed, and journalists were invited into the country on a limited basis. "According to academic studies of American researchers, a total of 165,000 Vietnamese people died in those camps." (Vietnamese)  Then, in the 1990s, 405,000 former soldiers and officers of the former South Vietnamese Army were allowed to emigrate to the US under the Orderly Departure Program. (Accounts)

     Final thoughts are simply, I am so thankful for a free press.  I am thankful for resources that allow one to dig for more facts and training in critical thinking that teaches us to question.  I sometimes think our patriotism in the US suffers because of our willingness to criticize the government and our elected officials, but I am becoming ever more thankful of that right.

Works Cited

     "Accounts of Imprisonment and Re-education." Vietnamese Perspectives on the War in Vietnam. Retrieved April 17, 2014. http://www.yale.edu/seas/bibliography/chapters/chapter9.html

     "Vietnamese Americans: Lessons in American History- An Interdisciplinary Curriculum and Resource Guide," p. 83.

f