A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Since dad mentioned that foreign visitors to Hanoi all go to see the so-called "Hanoi Hilton", Heike and I headed over there to fulfill our touristly duty.

For the underinformed (which included me until my visit), the Hanoi Hilton was the nickname that Vietnam War POW's gave to the prison in Hanoi that housed them. Many American pilots, including Senator John McCain and Ambassador Pete Peterson, were held there for years during the war. The prison, built in 1897 by the French, was originally a whole lot bigger, but within the last few years the government tore down most of it to make way for an apartment/hotel and office complex. The remaining portion, in the shadow of the high-rise, contains a museum devoted mainly to how Vietnamese communist political prisoners wer tortured and executed there before the Paris Agreements of 1954. This included displays of stocks with emaciated mannequins attached, samples of torture devices, photos of resident party members, and two guillotines. Remnants of the sewer system through which several prisoners escaped over the years were also on view.

Two small rooms were devoted to the pilots who lived in the facility during the Vietnam War. The gist of the exhibit was clear -- the enemy pilots were gloriously well treated during their stay. To hear them tell it, you'd think the prisoners were on a multi-year spa retreat, complete with new clothes, medical services, exercise, and any number of collegial meetings with the media nad high-ranking Viet Cong officials. I don't know much about how the POW's were treated here, but this account smelled the tiniest bit fishy to me. Again, the victors write the history.

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren



posted by Katy at 3:15 AM