Reunification Palace, 9/1

Monday the students started language classes for four hours every morning.

In the afternoon we visited the Reunification Palace. It was originally built in 1868 as the French Governor General's residence. In 1954 it became the Presidential Palace after the French left. President Diem was so hated by his colleagues that in 1962 it was bombed by his own air force in an attempt to kill him. It was completely rebuilt after the bombing, in the present, 1960s western architectural style. It was finished in 1966, three years after Diem was assassinated.

It remained the Presidential Palace until 1975, when North Vietnamese tanks similar to this one crashed through the front gates, and accepted the unconditional surrender of the last South Vietnamese President, General Minh. After reunification, the building was renamed the Reunification Palace, and since has been a museum, used only occasionally for special events.

The picture to the right shows the boulevard the tanks and troops came up, and the two gates they crashed through. The high rises were not there in 1975. This is very much the view President Minh would have had as the tanks approached.

We had to wait a few minutes for an English speaking guide.

They were setting up a temporary stage in front of the palace for a ceremony the next day. September 2 is celebrated as Independence Day in Vietnam. It is the date in 1945 when Ho Chi Minh declared independence for the nation of Vietnam, during the chaos that followed WWII. He borrowed liberally from the U.S. Declaration of Independence in his speech. Little did he know that it would take another 30 years for his declaration to become reality.

We will see statues, busts, and pictures of Ho Chi Minh (reverently referred to as "Uncle Ho") everywhere we go. If you look carefully at the first picture of this set, you will see a plywood cutout of Ho affixed over the entryway, for the Independence Day celebration. The students will learn much more about Uncle Ho as we go along. They have already learned that first and foremost he was a nationalist, dedicated to a united country under Vietnamese control. He was a communist, but it was more of a means to an end for him.


There are numerous, ornate meeting and reception rooms in the palace. This one happens to be the credentials room.

Here some of the students are shown visiting the presidential office.





Among the artifacts on display were these three elephant feet from the French era. They are real feet, tanned and preserved. They probably served as waste baskets or umbrella holders. Vietnam used to have numerous wild animals, including elephants, bears, and tigers. Most have been eliminated from the country, or are very rare, because of over hunting or loss of habitat.

The Vietnamese are very much in tune with feng shui, and Oriental style gardens are a key part of that. This one is in an upper atrium of the palace.




The whole top floor of the palace is an open area to hold receptions and parties. Here we are looking down one floor toward the helipad, complete with a captured Vietnamese helicopter. This is a Huey, the main assault helicopter for the Americans and the South Vietnamese. I flew these in flight school, but when I was in Vietnam I flew Chinooks. More about those later.