War Stories

[smokingboot]

There's a famous photo of a tank crashing through the main gate of the presidential palace; it marks the fall of Saigon, and much is made of it as a symbol. I think it is Tank 843. But 843 wasn't the first; it had already taken a wrong turn and ended up at Saigon Zoo. No, the glory should have gone to poor old 390, who reached the right destination and then got itself convincingly stuck in the side gate of the palace and of history.


Or maybe I've got it turned around and 843 was first, with 390 catching up and taking the credit. These things blur when the photo op is king. We laughed. And then we went to the War Remnants Museum.

I cannot speak much of this.
The museum has a section dedicated to war correspondents/ photographers which treats their memories and their work with honour. Forgetting the myths, the photo ops, the tales of valour and absurdity, the games of Big Boss Men, the real story of war never changes for the eternal witness: