Vietnam tourists explore nation's war-torn past

This group of war veterans has returned to Vietnam for the first time since 1966. "We're coming to say goodbye to some people we never got a chance to say goodbye to," one said

In this story: Veterans return 'Hanoi Hilton' RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Carolyn O'Neil

DA NANG, Vietnam (CNN) -- Twenty-five years after the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam War is back, this time in the memories of tourists who have come here to recall the conflict.

Vietnamese and Americans alike, including many veterans, increasingly are seeking out museums and landmarks memorializing the bloody struggle, which ended in 1975 with a communist victory over United States-backed South Vietnam. President Clinton is scheduled to visit Vietnam later this month.

POP QUIZ Test your knowledge about the Vietnam War     POSTCARDS FROM VIETNAM From Ho Chi Minh City in the south to Halong Bay and Sapa in the north -- Take a personal tour of Vietnam with CNN producer Greg Phillips     IN-DEPTH Vietnam: Echoes of war     ALSO Vietnam's coast: Beauty and the beach Journey through Vietnam's historical, spiritual sites

Travelers flock to sites such as Cu Chi, near Saigon, a 155-mile network of underground tunnels.

For years, the North Vietnamese lived and worked there -- below ground -- launching surprise attacks against the enemy above. Many tunnels have been widened to accommodate tourists, but they're still cramped.

"I didn't know anything about it before I came here," one tourist said. "I think it's very important to understand and to know."

At Reunification Palace, the former headquarters for the South Vietnamese government, tourists can see where North Vietnamese tanks smashed through the gates during the fall of the city.

In central Vietnam, a group of American veterans returned recently, the first time they'd been here since 1966, when they were young Marines.

"We're all coming for some closure," one said. "We're coming to say goodbye to some people we never got a chance to say goodbye to. They were put on helicopters and were gone, and we never got to say goodbye."

Another veteran remembers Vietnam having some of the most beautiful countryside he had ever seen.

North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Reunification Palace during the fall of Saigon

"This time, hopefully, nobody's going to be shooting at us," he said.

During their visit, the former Marines donated medical and farm supplies, plus $1,000 -- a gesture to help build a village school in the area where they fought.

Vietnam authorities are pursuing other ways to capitalize on tourism, including possible package tours along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The trail, which was used to move communist soldiers and supplies from the north to the south, was heavily bombed by the U.S. military during the war.

For another perspective on the war, tourists can visit the War Remnants Museum -- formerly the U.S. War Crimes Museum -- which offers a decidedly anti-American take on the war.

In Hanoi, a major landmark of the Vietnam War is the Hoa Lo prison, the so-called "Hanoi Hilton" that held American prisoners of war. Only a few cells remain at the onetime prison, which has been converted into a museum and tourist attraction.

Returning war veterans have the opportunity to enjoy Vietnam's breathtaking countryside in times of peace

Elsewhere, the B-52 Museum in Hanoi shows the mangled remains of American planes shot down during the war.

Neva Talcott's husband was a surgeon during the war, and she has been intrigued by Vietnam ever since.

"His letters that came home were about the richness of the culture, and the things that were available here even in spite of the war, and the beauty of the Orient and Asia," said Talcott, who visited Vietnam recently. "It was just different than what you read in the newspapers."

CNN In-Depth Special: Vietnam at 25

Clinton plans postelection visit to Vietnam
September 14, 2000
Cruising Vietnam's coast
May 5, 2000
Light and aromatic: Take a trip into Vietnamese cuisine
April 28, 2000
'Hanoi Hilton' now holds only painful memories
April 27, 2000
An intriguing mix of past and present
April 24, 2000
Detour to Da Nang
November 8, 1999

Vietnam Tourism
U.S. Consular Information Sheet: Vietnam
CDC Travelers' Health: Southeast Asia

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