was originally built as a theatre in 1900 with
a facade similar to the Petit Palais in Paris, but
Monument to Thich Quand Duc
The Opera House
hidden in plain sight: the american war
Though Saigon remained peaceful relative to
the rest of Vietnam, the city was the staging
ground for a number of historic events. Some of
them, commemorated in plain sight, routinely
go unnoticed amidst the city’s frenetic pace.
Thich Quang Duc’s Sacrifice
At the intersection of Cach Mang Thang Tam
and Nguyen Dinh Chieu in District 3 is a small
park centred around an ornate Buddhist stupa.
This is the spot where, on the morning of June
11 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a monk from Hue,
sat down in front of the Cambodian Embassy,
allowed fellow monks to douse him in gasoline
and then set fire to himself.
The photograph, captured by Malcolm
Brown, has since become one of the most
iconic images from the period, so much so that
the intention behind Thich Quang Duc’s action
has been eclipsed by the stark, disturbing imag-
ery. In fact, the self-immolation was a response
to persecution of Buddhists by the regime of
South Vietnam’s president, Ngo Dinh Diem.
The event figured significantly in the Bud-
dhist Crisis of 1963, which began with the
French soldier, Continental behind
shooting of nine protesters by South Vietnam-
ese soldiers on Vesak Day in Hue on May 8.
It also catalyzed opposition to the regime at
home and around the world. Nguyen Huu Thai
(see “Ho Chi Minh City Historians”) was present
at the intersection and recalls that day and the
effect it had on him: “At first I was an outside
observer. Then I could no longer stand idle. I
became a participant. I chose sides—the side of
oppressed people.”
Later that year, on November 1, with confi-
dence in his leadership shattered, Diem was
assassinated after his own army staged a coup.
The Brinks Bombing
Another little-noticed monument is positioned
on the northwest corner of Lam Son Square.
Though today the Park Hyatt occupies the
space, the Brinks Hotel, a quarters for U.S. mili-
tary officers, was once located here. The history
explains the monument’s imagery. The stone
is engraved with the image of a jeep erupting
in flames in dedication to two members of
the National Front for the Liberation of South
Vietnam (NLF) who successfully detonated a
from 1955 to 1975, it served as South Vietnam's
Congress House. However, it's the absence of a
long-gone monument that tells an interesting
tale about the state of the former nation.
In the arcade just in front of the Opera House
once stood a hulking statue of two South Viet-
namese marines charging forward. However,
the statue was positioned so that the barrel
of a gun faced the front of the then Congress
House. According to Gil Simpson, there was a
long-running joke that the statue was a mes-
sage from the army to the legislators: don’t
forget who’s in charge.
The statue was destroyed shortly after the
South Vietnamese government surrendered,
though a public park still occupies the space.
The Chemins de Fer Affair
Even more so than the self-immolation of Thic
Quang Duc, Eddie Adams’ 1968 photograph
of the execution of a handcuffed NLF officer
by the chief of the South Vietnamese National
Police during the Tet Offensive epitomises
the brutality of the war in many minds. The
image shocked people across the world when
it landed on the front pages of major news-
papers, but in Saigon, it was perhaps not so
uncommon a sight.
Though the railway office opposite Ben
Thanh Market has served the same purpose for
more than a century, it was annexed for a more
sinister purpose for a period. Until 1966, a por-
tion of its façade was covered by sandbags and
set off by barbed wire; the highly visible spot
was the site of public executions carried out by
the South Vietnamese government. Eventually,
says Gil Simpson and Thomas Hutchings, the
spectacle was deemed damaging to South
Vietnam’s image and public executions ceased
to be carried out here.
The Airlift of 1975
Perhaps the most iconic shot of the April 29,
1975 evacuation of Saigon depicts a stream of
people ascending a steep ramp to a helicopter
car bomb beneath the Brinks on Christmas Eve, perched on the roof of an elevator shaft. But
1964, killing two American officers and wound-
Monument to NLF soldiers, Lam Son Square the building is often incorrectly mislabeled as
ing nearly 60. the American Embassy. In fact, it was the Pitt-
At the time, the Brinks was a popular hang- man Apartments, located at 22 Gia Long Street,
out for American servicemen. According to Gil now 22 Ly Tu Trong.
Simpson, the rumour was that the attack was The photo was taken by Hubert Van Es, a
meant to coincide with the arrival of Bob Hope, press agent for United Press International, from
who was due in town for a USO performance. UPI’s penthouse office at the Peninsula Hotel.
The attack was meant to demonstrate the Though Van Es asserted that he captioned the
North’s ability to strike within Saigon. Though photograph correctly, the misidentification
urged to launch retaliatory air strikes by his persists widely today.
advisers, then U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson The Pittman Apartments served as hous-
refused. After the February 4, 1965 NLF attack ing for CIA staff during the war. The rooftop
on a U.S. Marines barracks in Pleiku, President platform was never intended to hold the
Johnson approved air strikes. Also in 1965, the weight of a helicopter, but in the weeks before
NLF bombed the U.S. embassy in March and the evacuation, when it became clear that the
the My Canh floating restaurant, which was South Vietnamese would surrender, the eleva-
moored along Ton Duc Thang on the Saigon tor shaft was reinforced so that it could serve as
River, in June. a helipad. Today, if you stand just east of Ly Tu
Trong on Hai Ba Trung or Dong Khoi, you can
Charge! still see the makeshift landing pad.
The main structure in Lam Son Square—the
Municipal Theatre, better known as the Opera Special thanks to Philippe Chaplain and Gil
House—also played a significant role in the Simpson for providing photographs and vintage
short history of the Republic of Vietnam. It
The Railway Administration Office, site of public executions
postcards to these preceding pages.