History 101

"The Buddhist Memorial At Choeung Ek Killing Field"

Once I got to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) I decided to leave the late nights and beaches behind me and change to early mornings and history. Ya you heard right, not quite like me I know, but I did enjoy....scratch that, enjoy is a bad way of putting it.. found it rather interesting.

Everyone has surely heard of the War in Vietnam when the United States and Southern Vietnam were fighting against the Communists of Central Vietnam. But what people don't know, well at least I didn't, is that one of the main areas where this took place is almost entirely underground. I don't mean they actually fought underground but this area was controlled but the Communists. In order to be able to stand a chance against the guns, planes, and helicopters of the opposing side they, over many many years, managed to dig a very complex set of tunnels so they could hide, surprise the enemy, and escape basically into thin air. These tunnels are called the Cuchi Tunnels.

I departed from Saigon for a day trip to see for my own eyes and to try to get a better understanding of the war and Vietnam's history. When we first arrived at the tunnels we paid our fees and were sat in a video room to watch a small film before going to explore first hand. Once the movie was over we were taking around the area with a guide to explain many of the different areas and it was also interesting to learn, that our particular guide, was fighting against the Communists at the time of the war.

The Cuchi Tunnels are said to be an architectural marvel. There are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, sometimes three levels thick, with everything from hospitals and sleeping quarters, to weapon factories and dining areas. Also these tunnels were all dug by hand then all the extra dirt hand to be carried away to be sure piles of dirt would not give there positions away. These tunnels were also made very hard to breach by the USA army because the one advantage the Communists had over the states were they were much smaller. This being the case the majority of the tunnels were not large enough for most of the states army to fit in so most that tried to enter usually ended up being killed from getting stuck or from the waiting opposing army. The only tunnels that were generally big enough were mostly false ones that didn't connect to the main system. These usually just led to a deep end, and in most cases, landmines.

Through the day were were able to climb down into some of these tunnels and explore the underground city a little but since we were confined to only the larger tunnels, we barely even scratched the surface. We also were able to see big bomb craters where the B52's drop bombs on the area and the impact it still has today. Its amazing how much closer to home it makes you feel when you are standing in a place like this, its quite a strange feeling.

After spending only one day in Saigon I was off on another bus but this time heading out of Vietnam and into Cambodia. My first stop in Cambodia was Phenom Penh, which is where I still am, and after arriving around 3 pm I decided not to waste the day, since I am quite limited to the number of these now, so I hired a moto to bring me out to Killing Fields , for the remainder of the daylight.

The Killing Fields were a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Communist regime Khmer Khmer Rouge, which had ruled the country since 1975. The massacres ended in 1979, when Communist Vietnam invaded the country and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime. Estimates of the number of dead range from 1.7 to 3 million but with newer investigation they suspect its closer to 3 million. Just imagine that, almost 3 million people out of a country that's population is around 7 million, and this all happened while some of you reading this were alive.
The Khmer Rouge judicial process, for minor or political crimes, began with a warning from the Angkar, which was the government of Cambodia under the regime. People receiving more than two warnings were sent for "re-education", which meant near-certain death. People were often encouraged to confess to Angkar their "pre-revolutionary lifestyles and crimes" which could be anything from having an education, to wearing glasses (this was a sign of education), to speaking to a foreigner, and even believing in religion being told that Angkar would forgive them and "wipe the slate clean". This meant being taken to a Killing Field and being tortured and executed.
The executed were buried in mass graves. In order to save ammunition, executions were often carried out using hammers, axe handles, spades or sharpened bamboo sticks. Some victims were required to dig their own graves; their weakness often meant that they were unable to dig very deep. The soldiers who carried out the executions were mostly young men or women from peasant families.
The Khmer Rouge regime arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. Ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chams (Muslim Cambodians), Cambodian Christians, and the Buddhist monk hood were the demographic targets of persecution.

The fields, in particular, that I visited is called Choeung Ek and is located about 17 kms south of Phenom Penh. This is the most famous field in Cambodia and its is believed that over 17000 people were executed here and buried in mass graves. In the early 1980 the government dug up some of these graves and found nearly 6000 human remains. Some of the area is untouched and although they know there is many more graves here it is left alone, for now anyway.

At this site they have built a Buddhist Stupa as a memorial and all of the skulls found in the areas that were dug up are on display in glass cabinets that make up all four walls, bottom to top, as a reminder. Its quite a hard thing to explain exactly how one feels as you walk around this area. It is something I have never felt before, no matter where you look there are either bones scattered around, clothes that the rain has brought to the surface, and many deadly reminders of the violent history.

After departing from the Killing Fields my moto driver ask me if I would like to go to a shooting range and try shooting some guns, quite fitting hey? Seeing as I did want to do this for quite some time, after some thought about it I managed to say ok, and he quickly drove me away from the sad history and into a military base. At the base I was quickly seated and handed a menu, ya strange hey, of all the different kinds of guns one could shoot. I chose the AK 47 (The Communists gun in Vietnam), M16 (The American Gun), and to top it all off a few rounds from a Colt 45 Handgun. This is probably the fastest way a person can spend money in Cambodia. Each round is worth about a dollar and with two of the guns being automatic, my money went fast. The guard informed me that all the money raised went to poor children but with such a corrupt military, I have a very hard time believing this.

Having had a very long day I went to sleep early so I could have another day of dark history at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum better known as S21.

S21 was originally a high school but after the Khmer Rouge came to rule in Cambodia it was quickly turned into a prison for people on there way to the killing fields. For all of the documented history they were able to uncover from S21 they figure that out of 17000 people who were locked up here, less than a dozen ever lived to tell about it. (Notice the similarities between the killing fields and that number?)

The main people that occupied S21 were politicians and ex military because the Khmer Rouge were afraid that these people were most likely to rebel against them. Most people were tortured, starved, and then right before they would die from natural causes (well not natural but), they were brought to the killing fields to be executed. There were also very many women and children that occupied this prison, mostly because they were the family of the "traitors".

The prison has now been turned into a museum with all of the facilities open to public. While there I seen the cells, detention area, gallows, and the courtyard where many were executed as a warning to other prisoners.

The last few days have definitely not ranked up there is my most happy days of my trip but definitely the most educational. It confuses me, that of all the things a person learns is school that happened hundreds of years ago, stuff like this that is so resent is often left out.

Tomorrow I am leaving Phnom Penh in the past and will be arriving in Siam Reap for dinner.

"Me And An American Tank Destroyed In The Late 1970s"

"Entrance To One Of The Many Underground Cuchi Tunnels"

"Good Thing I Am Somewhat Wee!"

"Four Of The Many Mass Graves At The Killing Fields"

Notice The Clothes Unearthed By The Rain

"Some Of The 8000 Skulls On Display At Choeung Ek"

"Right Hand - AK47 Left Hand - M16"

"Barbed Wire Enclosed Balconies At S21"

So No One Could Commit Suicide

"The Temporary Cells In The Classrooms"

"S21 Torturing Instruments"