On display are 1,033 personal possessions and war memorabilia selected from 11,000 items donated over the last three years.
The
museum's campaign, launched in July 2008, received the support of
surviving war veterans and martyrs' relatives. US veterans and their
families also donated precious keepsakes in response to the appeal.
Major-General
Le Ma Luong, the museum's former director, said it is vital to preserve
the memories of those who lost their lives in Vietnam's various war so
that younger generations can fully appreciate the great sacrifice made
by their forebearsfor the country’s.
General Vo Nguyen Giap was
the first person to respond to the museum's appeal, donating many of his
most precious war memorabilia.
Memorabilia from the French and
American wars was donated by martyrs' relatives and veterans themselves
such as former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, General Pham Van
Tra and Colonel Nguyen Van Ich. Their private letters to their relatives
are also on display.
Former American serviceman Henry Prunier,
86, donated 200 documents, pictures and videos to the collection – the
largest contribution by a foreign veteran. Prunier was a member of the
US intelligence Deer Team, who answered Ho Chi Minh's call to join the
war against the Japanese in Tan Trao in northern Tuyen Quang province in
1945.
Even though the personal belongings are intrinsically of
little value, visitors to the exhibition will be able to understand more
fully what the dead and their surviving relatives had to endure . One
such item is the bicycle belonging to Lang Si Thuy.
Thuy was
injured in battle and sent to a military hospital in central Thanh Hoa
province. Even before the young soldier's wounds had healed he begged to
be allowed to rejoin his comrades at the front in Quang Tri, where the
battle was very fierce. Despite doctors' objection, he discharged
himself from hospital and borrowed his sister the bicycle, which he
pedalled 450km to Quang Tri to be with his companions. He left the
bicycle at a local woman's house in Vinh Linh district and told her he
would come back to collect it after the war. If he was killed, he told
the woman, his sister would collect the bicycle for him, and he left his
sister's name and address. His sister later collected the bicycle on
her dead brother's behalf.
Accounts such as these have been published in two books by Cong An Nhan Dan (Pubic Security) Publishing House.
The
exhibition organisers – the Museum of Military History and Tien Phong
(Vanguard) newspaper under sponsorship of North Asia Bank – will also be
granting prizes to the winners of the War Memorabilia Writing Contest
launched by Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army) newspaper that has been
running since April.
The exhibition's closing ceremony on December 19 will be broadcast live on VTV1./.
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