Vietnam Army History Museum

Located on Điện Biên Phủ Street, it was opened on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Army (22nd December 1959). It used to be the barracks of the French, which was upgraded to the current building of 2,000 m2 of exhibition space. Nearly 3,000 objects displayed here show visitors the establishment and development of the Việt Nam people’s armed forces. Besides a small section on the tradition of fighting foreign invaders of the Vietnamese feudal dynasties, the museum’s contents focus on the historical events relating to the history of Viet Nam People’s Army.

Vietnam Military History Museum

The collection includes the rudimentary weapons used by groups of national salvation soldiers set up during the pre-insurrection period, especially the Việt Nam Propagation and Liberation Brigade (founded on 22nd December 1944 which date is considered the date of establishment of the Việt Nam People’s Army). The first victories of this army made an important contribution to the establishment of the Việt Bắc Liberated Zone, the first model of a free Viet Nam.

The growth of the National Defense Army during the post August Revolution and of the Việt Nam People’s Army (the official name of Việt Nam’s Army since 1950) is represented with a number of memorabilia: weapons, maps, strategic decisions, site models of major attacks, especially those related to the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign. Objects and documents concerning the war against the American invaders are also on display in the museum. There are guns called Ngựa Trời (heaven horse), self-made hand grenades which were effectively used in the days of the 1960 general uprising. Visitors can see strong army units with tanks, heavy artillery which participated in the Spring Campaign of 1975 to liberate the South. Besides, there are photographs about major fights between Việt Nam’s military forces and the American army at Vạn Tường, Bình Giã, Khe Sanh, Southern Laos, and the “Dien Bien Phu in the sky” (in Hà Nội, late 1972), etc. The site model of the Hồ Chí Minh campaign is also provided.

Vietnam Army History Museum

There are many historical objects such as a pack- bicycle used during the Điện Biên Phủ campaign, MIG 19 and 21 jet-fighters, SAM 2 and 3 rockets which smashed the supremacy of the us Air Force, simple bamboo spikes, and the tank of the motorized army which rolled through Saigon on 30th April 1975.
The Army Museum manifests the Vietnamese people’s indomitability embodied in the phrase “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.”

Hà Nội Past and Present Nguyen Vinh Phuc - The Gioi Publishers

Hà Nội Flag Tower

It is one of the few architectural works in Hà Nội which were not destroyed by the French administration from 1894 to 1897. The relatively high flag Tower was used by the French troops as an observation tower and communications station between the command post an adjacent military posts. In the daytime, signals were used while at night a system of lights was operated.

Hanoi Flag Tower in the Past

The tower was built in 1812, composed of three lower structures and a tower. The three lower structures are square frustums, smaller at the top, overlapping each other and covered by bricks. The lower structure, 42.5m long each side, is 3.1m high with two brick staircases. The second structure, 27m long each side, is 3.7m high with four doors. The eastern door has two inscribed characters reading “Nghênh Húc” (“welcoming dawn’s sunlight), the western door with “Hội Quang” (light absorbing) and the southern with “Hướng Minh” (facing sunlight).

The northern door has no inscription. The third structure is 12.8m long and 5.1m high with a staircase on the northern side. On top of it stands the tower body, a 18.2m high eight-sided structure that gets smaller to the top. Each side at the bottom is 2m wide. Inside the structure is a 54-step spiral staircase. Light and air to the whole tower come through holes, which are scattered along the sides, each side having from 4 to 5 holes.

Hanoi Flag Tower Now

The peak of the Flag Tower is an eight-sided room, 3.3m high with 8 windows at 8 sides. In the middle of the octagon there is a cylinder 8m in height and 0.4m diameter where the flagpole is placed. The entire Flag Tower is 33.4m high and if the flagpole is included, the Tower is over 4lm high.

Hà Nội Past and Present Nguyen Vinh Phuc - The Gioi Publishers