This sculpture along Thanh Nien Road in front of Thuc Bach Lake in Hanoi reads: “On 26 October 1967 at this Truc Bach Lake, Hanoi people captured alive American major pilot Tchan Sney Ma Can. He flew an A4 airplane and he was shot down at Yen Phu Electric Company. This is one of the 10 aircraft shot down on this day.” “Tchan Sney Ma Can” likely represents “John Sidney McCain” who was shot down on this day while flying a mission over Hanoi and whose target was the power plant. In the background, a new sidewalk has just been constructed and across the lake in the distance, two new office towers are under construction on Cua Bac Street, evidence of Vietnam’s continual economic growth since reform in 1986 to a market-based economy. There was a plan here that if McCain had won the US presidency in 2008, his plane would have been raised out of the lake and made into a tourist attraction. 

Heavily bombed during Linebacker II in December 1972, few buildings here on Kham Thien Street in Hanoi’s Dong Da District stood intact. However, no evidence of the bombing remains and the street is now bustling with businesses and traffic.

During Linebacker II on 22 December 1972, errant bombs hit a wing of Bach Mai Hospital, a large civilian hospital in Hanoi. Located less than 1,000 meters from Bach Mai Airport and adjacent military barracks, which were both significantly damaged, bombs escaping the bomb train unfortunately hit the hospital. Bach Mai Airport served as the command and control headquarters for the North Vietnamese air defense system. The event was used widely as propaganda by North Vietnam as evidence of indiscriminate bombing by the US and “proof ” of deliberate American attacks on civilian locations. Analysis of the bombing though suggests that the bombs that hit the hospital, as well as some residential areas, were simply missing their military, supply, and transport targets. However, as destructive as the collateral damage on Hanoi was during 18-29 December 1972, estimated at 1,300 civilian deaths and 600 dwellings destroyed, it was significantly less than the losses incurred during the aerial bombings of Tokyo and Dresden near the end of World War Two. In Tokyo, on 9-10 March 1945, aerial bombing resulted in an estimated 84,000 civilian deaths and 173,000 dwellings destroyed, while the aerial bombing of Dresden on 14-15 February 1945, resulted in an estimated 25,000 civilian deaths and 78,000 dwellings destroyed. At Bach Mai, though the North Vietnamese initially claimed “many patients, physicians, and nurses [were] killed or wounded,” they later acknowledged that some hospital grounds staff had been killed and that all patients and medical staff had been evacuated before the bombing campaign began.

Pham Quy Tuan (left) with his children (left to right) Pham Thi Kim Ngan and Pham Quy Trung, and wife, Nguyen Thi Thu Hieu. (The cat is unnamed.) On 1 August 2009, while looking for metal using a metal detector behind his home in Hai Lang District, Quang Tri Province, Tuan hit some unexploded ordnance and lost his left hand and right arm. The same day this image was taken, 2 October 2010, another UXO exploded in the same district, killing a farmer working in his field of acacia trees. Like Agent Orange, UXO continues to be a devastating legacy of the war. Casualties and fatalities from UXO remain a common event throughout central Vietnam, but particularly in Quang Tri Province, the most heavily bombed province during the war. Between 1975 and 2010 through extensive land clearing initiatives, over 250,000 explosive devices have been found and destroyed in Quang Tri. During the same period, over 2,600 people have been killed and over 4,400 injured in the province from detonated UXO. Although still very high, the number of annual victims has been decreasing over the years in large part due to government and international NGO efforts to find and clear the land of explosive devices and from educational activities to raise awareness. In the past ten years, there have been an average of 38 victims per year in Quang Tri; however, in the past five years, this number has decreased to an average of 13 victims per year. In addition to organizations dedicated to returning the land as safe for agriculture and other uses, other organizations are on the ground to assist UXO victims and their families. One such agency, focusing on survivor assistance in conflict-affected countries, is US-based Clear Path International (CPI), who is supported by the US State Department. In the case of Pham Quy Tuan, above, CPI is covering his medical expenses, providing a grant to open a small business and some educational scholarships for his children, and seeking sponsors to cover the costs for a prosthetic hand.

Gio Linh was the northernmost US base, a critical piece of high ground immediately south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), approximately 7 km from the sea. It was one of a string of bases south of the Ben Hai River intended to form a barrier against personnel and equipment moving from the North into the South. Officially called the “Strong Point Obstacle System,” the barrier was more commonly known as the “McNamara Line” after Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Gio Linh was also known as Alpha 2 and was the eastern anchor of the McNamara Line. Today, small trees and brush have overtaken the vast camp that was Gio Linh. Though scrap metal collectors have removed most of the metal left behind here, these shell casings still remain, found off one of the main paths cutting through the former base. Nearby, outside the base along Highway 1, an ARVN M41 tank remains, rusting away. The Vietnamese refer to Gio Linh as “Doc Mieu” and a plaque along Highway 1 identifies it as the “Doc Mieu Fire Base.”

One of the enduring legacies of the war is the lingering effects of Agent Orange and other defoliants. Between 1961 and 1971 more than 20 million gallons of herbicides, the most common being Agent Orange, were sprayed over southern and central Vietnam, to destroy the cover and sustenance the jungle provided to the VC and NVA. The main ingredient in the defoliants was dioxin, now considered one of the most toxic elements ever created. Its use as an herbicide was discontinued in 1970 when a study found birth defects in laboratory animals exposed to it, and it is now linked to a high rate of multiple cancers, birth defects, and other illnesses. Birth defects attributed to defoliants have occurred in the children or grandchildren of those exposed to it (both in the US and in Vietnam). In Vietnam, it is estimated that three million people suffer from illnesses and birth defects related to the defoliants. Here, in Cam Lo, near the former DMZ is Tran Thi Phuong Thao, 16 years old, who has limited brain development and has been bedridden since birth. Her grandmother sits by her side. The lack of substantial financial support from the US Government to assist with Agent Orange-related health issues in Vietnam remains a point of contention between the US and Vietnam.

Hue Citadel Airfield, also known as Tay Loc Airport, was located within the Citadel walls. The airfield, with its 2,400-foot runway, was a base field for Forward Air Controller (FAC) aircraft as well as for the elite ARVN Black Panther (Hac Bao) Ranger Company, whose headquarters was also located within the Citadel. The runway is now La Son Phu Tu Street, seen here, after heavy rains. La Son Phu Tu Street is a diagonal street in an otherwise rectangular grid pattern of streets inside the Citadel, and has no intersections except at its ends.

One of four French-built bunkers at the top of Vong Canh Hill, approximately 7 km outside of Hue, overlooking the hill and the Perfume River below. Pine trees can be seen in the image behind the bunker. At Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, the JFK School of Special Warfare included courses to prepare Special Forces soldiers and other servicemen for advisory tours in South Vietnam. The decision was made to use the Ft. Bragg facility because the pine forests and weather there were similar to that of the Hue area, where a number of Special Forces and Army advisors were located in the early years of US military intervention (pre-1965). The North Carolina climate added a layer of realism to the training.

Kicking back and playing cards on Nguyen Luong Bang Street in the north end of Da Nang. 

The interior of Van Thong Cave, located within one of the five Marble Mountains, approximately 8 km south of downtown Da Nang. Gunfire pockmarks can still be seen here as the white round marks on the cave walls. The number of these marks and their proximity to one another speak to the fierce fighting here. 

Living in the Central Highlands, the Bahnar are one of 53 ethnic minority groups living in Vietnam. The indigenous peoples in the Central Highlands and nearby were collectively called “Montagnards” (mountain people) by the French, and later, the Americans. The Bahnar were one of the groups that fought with the US and South Vietnam, organized by US Special Forces into a Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG). To minimize contact with the Viet Cong, the South Vietnamese government moved many Bahnar from the countryside into villages. In retaliation, the VC burned down the homes of the Bahnar. In response, houses were then built with US-supplied steel. Though many homes from this period still stand, new homes that are con­structed today continue the tradition of building with steel as can be seen here.

At the site of the former Plei Mei Special Forces Camp, the site of brutal fighting in October 1965 between CIDG forces and the NVA, a piece of a Claymore mine sits on top of the red soil as if the fighting were only yesterday. 

At this car repair-interior design-decal store on Hung Vuong Street in Pleiku in the Central Highlands, one can purchase large “ARMY USA” decals. Though only decals, such symbolism is a statement of support for the South, and would not have been tolerated by the government as little as five years ago. Today, their open presence poses the question: is this a true relaxation of government policy or a strategy to allow open expression to help determine and identify potential sources of threats to the government? The greatest resistance to the Communist government’s rule in Vietnam has been amongst ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, but eruptions of social unrest have become less frequent in the last few years. As such, the presence of the “ARMY USA” decals is more likely an indication of a vigilant government relaxing a bit, rather than a strategy of false openness to identify potential troublemakers.

Here in red letters on the building on the corner of Dong Du and Dong Khoi Streets are the remaining vestiges of the name “Tu Do” on the former Tu Do Street (now Dong Khoi Street). When the North Vietnamese assumed control, many names in Saigon were changed to remove the remnants of the pre-communist era. Tu Do, meaning Liberty, was renamed Dong Khoi, meaning Uprising. Though written as one word (Tựdo) in the sign instead of two (Tự Do), the meaning in Vietnamese is the same. The English word “liberty” appears on the building as well. The presence of these words on the building reflects a recent tolerance and relaxation by the government that in previous years would not have permitted such a public display of a pre-1975 reference.

A pristine and nearly empty terminal awaits passengers at the new Nha Trang Airport (NHA), which was originally the air base at Cam Rahn Bay. Cam Ranh Air Base was one of the largest US airbases in South Vietnam, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the US Air Force, which began operations here in 1965. The field was used as a tactical fighter base and as a strategic airlift facility. As the USAF eventually withdrew from Cam Ranh, the field was turned over to the South Vietnamese government in 1972, which operated it until its capture by the North Vietnamese in April 1975. From 1979 to 2002, it served as a Soviet/Russian naval and air base and signal post. After significant reconstruction and a new passenger terminal, above, the airport has been converted to civilian use, hosting its first commercial flight in 2004. At the same time, the commercial airport located in the city of Nha Trang ceased airline operations and is now exclusively a military facility. Thus, all flights to “Nha Trang” are actually to “Cam Ranh,” located about 26 km south of the city. The airport within the city of Nha Trang formerly carried the IATA designator NHA, which is now used for Cam Ranh Airport, and Cam Ranh’s code of CXR has been discontinued. Seen here on 3 January 2010, a “Happy New Year” sign hangs above the second floor. 

The city of Nha Trang fell to communist forces on 2 April 1975. To commemorate this date, the busy street shown here, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, was named 2 April Road. In the distance, the 2 April Victory Monument stands in a traffic median.

The “Mother & Child” sculpture, placed within a fountain in the median of Le Loi Street near the Saigon Opera House, replaces the ARVN Marines statue that formerly stood here, which was removed by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong after their capture of Saigon. The Rex Hotel, a famous Saigon hotel during the war, is in the background. 

At this little booth, locally called the “American Market,” inside a small collection of shops in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), one can purchase items from the war, including original Zippo lighters, flashlights, military-issued watches, helmets, canteens, pins, and other items, as well as new military fatigues and packs. 

The Park Hyatt Hotel, on Hai Ba Trung Street, opened in 2005 at the site of the former Brink Bachelor Officers Quarters, also known as the Brinks Hotel. On the evening of 24 December 1964, the Viet Cong detonated a car bomb at the hotel, killing two American officers and injuring around 60 military and civilian Americans and Vietnamese. Through the attack the Viet Cong had demonstrated their ability to strike within the seemingly secure center of Saigon, and that their reach was not confined to the countryside. Though the hotel was repaired, it was eventually razed, making way for the Park Hyatt Hotel, above. A monument to the Viet Cong operators stands in front of the new hotel. As the attack used a car bomb parked beneath the hotel, the memorial depicts a car with a blast coming from it, with a building above.

A monument stands where a US helicopter was shot down in a rice field in one of the earliest battles of the war involving US troops, in January 1963, at Ap Bac (Bac Village), Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province. The Province was formerly named Dinh Tuong Province. The battle, between ARVN troops with US support and VC units, was significant as it was where the Viet Cong demonstrated their ability to counter helicopters. Four US helicopters were shot down within the first five minutes of the battle, and all helicopters on site, except one, sustained damage.