The organising board of the War Memorabilia exhibition predicted that only 200 people would attend their opening ceremony, but surprisingly, nearly 1,000 guests arrived for the display and donated freely.

To the officers, veterans and foreigners who experienced the war, the keepsakes have an immeasurable spiritual value.

Viet Nam Military History Museum director Major-General Le Ma Luong said though there had been decades of change since either war, organisers nonetheless felt it was important to preserve memorabilia to remind younger generations of the sacrifices many people made for peace.

“The campaign holds significant social meaning as it introduces Viet Nam’s glorious feats of arms and teaches respect for those who devoted themselves to the revolution,” said Luong.

Since the campaign was launched in July 2008, a large amount of memorabilia from the French and American wars has been donated by martyr’s relatives and veterans such as former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu and General Nguyen Van Ich, who donated 312 letters he and his wife wrote to each other from 1962 to 1975.

Henry Prunier, 86, donated 200 documents, pictures and videos to the collection, the largest contribution by a foreigner. Prunier was a member of the US intelligence Deer Team, who answered Ho Chi Minh’s call to parachute into the Tan Trao war zone in northern Tuyen Quang, 1945, to support the Vietnamese resistance force against the Japanese at the end of the World War Two.

Director Luong expects that by the time the campaign for more memorabilia finishes, the museum will have more than 10,000 objects.

A large, 450,000sq.m exhibition centre currently under construction in Ha Noi’s My Dinh urban area will house the entire collection in 2015.

“A venue fit in stature for the memorabilia’s value,” said Luong.

A walking reunion

In 1964, US pilot Porter Alex Halyborton, 23, spent 250 hours flying over North Viet Nam before capture and internment at Hoa Lo prison, Ha Noi. Since returning to the US in 1973, he has visited Viet Nam many times – firstly, to strengthen his fading war memory, and secondly, to retrieve proof. During his visits, the first destination was always the Military History Museum.

Le Ma Luong (right), Viet Nam Military History Museum’s director introduces objects at the War Memorabilia exhibition.

Overjoyed to see tangible evidence of his memories, Halyborton requested to touch the shoes. He expressed his gratitude by asking his colleagues in the US to donate their war keepsakes to the museum. He expected other former soldiers would also discover their belongings at the museum.

To the officers, veterans and foreigners of the war, the keepsakes have an immeasurable spiritual value.

After hearing about the campaign, many Vietnamese veterans have personally delivered their keepsakes to the museum. Some, too elderly to come themselves, have contacted its staff and asked them to collect their war memorabilia.

Luong didn’t imagine the campaign would be so well-received domestically or abroad. However, he and other museum officers have often had difficulty collecting information and stories around every piece.

“An object displayed on the shelf is lifeless and meaningless if we don’t know its value and story,” said Luong. “That’s why museum officers have to identify origin and history.”

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Tran Thanh Hang often leads a search for an object’s owner to better understand it. She also collects information on memorabilia kept by the people and tries to persuade them to donate to the collection. “That’s truly difficult,” Hang said, “Because often, for martyr’s relatives, the keepsakes are sacred. Many don’t want us to take them away.”

Hang said getting martyr Phung Chi Kien’s dish and vase was one particularly difficult case. Kien’s family worshipped them together with Kien’s portrait on an altar. For them, it was like seeing him again.

Hang visited Kien’s family many times to try to persuade them donate the items. “Kien is a hero of the nation, a prime example for the Vietnamese youth,” she said. “His spirit represents the spirit of his generation and era. His belongings should be displayed.”

Finally, Hang managed to convince them and returned with Kien’s keepsakes.

Letters to a dead love

When her brother, Khuong The Hung, passed away, Khuong Bang Kinh honoured his memory by donating his testimonies to the war memorabilia collection. She expected that through his stories, people would respect her brother’s noble virtue, as the collection always intended.

Le Ma Luong (right), Viet Nam Military History Museum’s director introduces objects at the War Memorabilia exhibition.

Hung shared Tram’s feelings, but hid them deeply because, at the front line, he could die at any time. Hung’s comrades and Tram’s friends told him he shouldn’t but he remained silent. “My comrades fall daily for the country’s liberation – I can’t think of my own happiness,” Hung wrote in a letter to Tram. Then, by a cruel stroke of fate, Tram lost her life. Hung expressed his pain in letters which were never sent.

“I always thought I would die, not you,” Hung wrote. “I felt the pain when the bullet seemingly bypassed me to strike you.”

“I love you, yes, I love you,” he wrote.

Hang couldn’t stop crying for hours over Hung’s tragic love story.

These stories are only a few among the thousands relating to the 6,000 objects currently making up the collection.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News