Buzzing downtown of Ben Tre. Few cars, many motorbikes. |
I’m
out for a stroll, wandering through the center of an old river town. Now that
I’m out of Saigon, I’m feeling the slower pace of life in the Mekong Delta.
Dried
fish and fresh produce await customers in shop doorways. Motorbikes putter past me on the downtown street. On the
next street corner, an older Vietnamese woman in pajamas sells freshly baked
loaves French bread. The colonials may be gone, but the Vietnamese still enjoy
French pastries.
As
compared to other old towns in the Mekong Delta, this provincial hub is more
modern. The buildings that surround me have an appearance of urban renewal. For
an old provincial capital, it bears a look not very common to Vietnam. I
notice that for an old colonial town, there are far fewer French colonial
buildings around. That’s because most of them have been destroyed years before.
Various
groups of townsfolk greet me as I pass. “Hello! How are you? Where you from?”
they ask energetically. I get the idea that I’m something of a rarity here. Few
tourists come to this part of the Mekong Delta, and even fewer of them are
American. Given the history of this town, I’m not surprised.
Old town cinema. Bullet holes can still be seen on the sign. |
I’m in
the delta town of Ben Tre, which was well known as a rebel stronghold, even
long before the American military arrived in the 1960’s. The new look that it
has today, is due to the enormity of war’s destruction.
In
1968 when the Tet Offensive hit South Vietnam, the Viet Cong managed to briefly
capture this town. Soon after American forces counter-attacked to take Ben
Tre back from the VC. Taking the town by house to house fighting was brutal and difficult, so the American military opted for artillery
and aerial attacks. They won the battle and regained the town, but not before
much of Ben Tre was destroyed by American firepower.
When
the fighting stopped, more than half the town was in ruins. Over 400 VC were
killed in the battle, but the civilian death toll was even higher. In the
aftermath, many bodies were dumped into the Ben Tre River.
The
manager of my hotel is a Ben Tre native, and his father was involved in the
fighting. “My father VC (Viet Cong),” he told me. His father had survived the
battle, and his son relayed his simpler version of those fateful days. “The VC
attack. America bomb. Many, many people die.”
The
fighting and destruction in Ben Tre produced the most infamous quote of the
entire Vietnam War. After the battle was over, a US Army Major was quoted
by Associated Press reporter Peter
Arnett as saying, “We had to destroy Ben Tre in order to save it.”
Market destroyed in '68 fighting Photo: P Sharkey |
There
is little evidence left today of the massive destruction of those days. As I
wander around the downtown, most of the buildings are new, but a number of old
buildings that survived the fighting still bear scars from the assault. Looking
carefully at the buildings that survived the shelling, I can still make out
physical evidence of the heavy fighting that took place here decades before. As I
walk around town I see one residence has bullet holes around the doorway.
Another building has shrapnel marks scattered high across the walls. A tall
sign that reads, “Cine Theatre” has eight bullet holes peppered up the façade.
Those scars are certainly ugly, but with so much new architecture surrounding
these old buildings, the damage isn’t very noticeable. Any major damage done to
this neighborhood has already been repaired.
Passing
an old government building, I come to the only sign of old fortifications in
Ben Tre. Two abandoned, ground level bunkers sit at the corners of a government
compound. Still showing pockmarks from gunfire, one bunker had a section of
concrete knocked out, probably from a rocket propelled grenade.
Rebuilt market in Ben Tre today |
Fortunately
these old scars of war are the exception, since most of the buildings in town
are from the 1970’s era or later. Much as Berlin rebuilt from the rubble of
World War II to become the modern city it is today, Ben Tre has also risen from
the ashes.
Arriving
at the downtown’s center by the river, I reach Cho Ben Tre, the Ben Tre Market. This was also hit by fighting
during the Tet takeover. “The market (was) gone,” the hotel manager told me of
that time. “Fire… the buildings, fire.”
I look
at the market now, and it appears brand new. It was rebuilt years ago of
course, and once again it’s the center of commerce in Ben Tre. A lot of folks
are eating at food stalls outside, so I stop in for something to drink. It’s a
hot day, the perfect time for a cold
green tea.
Sitting
down at an empty table, I’m not unnoticed. At the next table is a group of local
ladies in their 30’s and 40’s. They don’t speak English, but from their
giggling and curious looks, I can tell that they don’t see many white
westerners here in the market. As I'm getting further south away from Saigon,
I'm getting deeper into the delta where few foreigners venture.
The market buzzes with commerce |
The
ladies motion for me to join them at their table, which I do, though I can tell
communication will be difficult. A teenage waitress brings my order of green
tea. One of the ladies at the table points to the waitress, then to herself.
“She, daughter,” she says. It doesn’t take long before the woman tries to
convince me to marry her daughter. Although flattered, I politely decline. One
thing that hasn’t changed here in the delta, is that marriage to an American is
a quick ticket out of poverty.
Another
woman at the table seems to be in her forties. Through the use of hand motions,
she informs me she is actually 60. Compared to white westerners, Asians often
appear much younger than their age. Asian women seem to age gracefully.
I try
speaking to them with a few basic words of English. There is little comprehension, but lots of laughter. Another
lady at the table joins in, and offers me another marriage proposal. “We
marry,” she says, pointing to her ring finger. I decline again. More laughter.
I’m
surprised at the jovial nature and friendliness of these local women. Most of
them were old enough to survive the fighting that occurred here, and the US
military once heavily bombed this town. As an American, the last thing I was
expecting was marriage proposals, even if only in jest.
I pay
my bill, and say farewell as I get up to leave. I receive a chorus of bye-byes
from the friendly women, as a two year old approaches the table. Her mother
takes her daughter by the hand, trying to get her to say bye-bye to me. The
child cringes back in fear from the tall white foreigner. All the ladies laugh.
The child is the only one at the whole table that is wary of me.
Memorial to the 1960 Ben Tre uprising |
I make
my way up Dong Khoi street, and head back to the hotel where I’m
staying. Like the Dong Khoi Street in Saigon, this refers to the ‘uprising’ of
1960 here in Ben Tre against the dictator Diem, not a reference to the 1968
battle here with the Americans.
That
earlier Viet Cong uprising is memorialized in town in Monument Park, where
there are murals and towering Soviet style statues. There is a reference there
to ‘fighting Americans’, but most US soldiers here in 1960 were only advisors.
Full American combat units didn’t arrive in Vietnam until five years later.
Like
the museums in Ho Chi Minh City, there are few people in the memorial park, it doesn’t
appear popular at all. My hotel manager explained: “The people forget. The war in the
past. Far.” He says his former Viet Cong father feels the same as everyone else. I’m
sure his father hasn’t forgotten the war, but given the warm welcomes and
friendliness I’ve experienced here, I’m pleased to find that I'm not seeing any bitterness.
Thanks for the article on Ben Tre. My wife's family lives in the countryside in Phong My, perhaps 10 miles east of the city. I have travelled there several times over the last decade. My sister-in-law owns a house there where we spent some time and I have looked for evidence of the fighting in vain. Perhaps the next time I'm there I can search out the bunkers you mentioned.
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