Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War

Credits

Truong Son Martyrs Cemetery. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs Cemetery. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Mourning soldier, statue, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Gregory Farris

Defaced tombstone, National Cemetery of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Maya Lin. Washington, DC. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Three Soldiers, Frederick Hart. Washington, DC. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Glenna Goodacre. Washington, DC. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Photographs of faces, S-21, Phnom Penh. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

“No laughing” sign. S-21, Phnom Penh. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Defaced photograph of Duch. S-21, Phnom Penh. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Missing Picture, film still, dir. Rithy Panh. © CDP/Bophana Center

Pens and necklaces supposedly made from American bullets. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Rusted tank, Doc Mieu firebase, near the demilitarized zone. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Helicopter diorama, War Memorial of Korea, Seoul. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

R-Point, film still, dir. Gong Su-chang. 2004 CJ Entertainment / Cinema Service

Sunny, film still, dir. Joon-ik Lee. 2008 Tiger Pictures / Achim Pictures

Ha My Memorial, near Hoi An. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Dien Bien Phu Martyrs Cemetery Memorial. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Mosaic, Cu Chi tunnels. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Russian jet, B-52 Victory Museum, Hanoi. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Thich Quang Duc’s car. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Dien Bien Phu of the Air, Military History Museum, Hanoi. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Nancy Rubins, Chas’ Stainless Steel, Mark Thomson’s Airplane Parts, about 1,000 lbs. of Stainless Steel Wire & Gagosian’s Beverly Hills Space at MOCA, 2002. Airplane parts, stainless steel armature, stainless steel wire cable, 25 x 54 x 33 feet. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, purchased in honor of Beatrice Gersh with funds provided by the Acquisition and Collection Committee; the Broad Art Foundation; Linda and Bob Gersh; David, Susan, Steven, and Laura Gersh; and Eugenio López. © Nancy Rubins. Photo by Brian Forrest

Frieze, Dien Bien Phu Martyrs Cemetery, 2009. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Diorama, Con Son Island Prison Complex, Con Dao Islands. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In Every Neighborhood, Dang Duc Sinh. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Commemoration, Nguyen Phu Cuong. Photo by Sam Sweezy

Zippo lighters, Ho Chi Minh City Museum. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Vinh Moc tunnels, 2009. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Dinh’s only surviving photo. Courtesy Viet Nam News Agency (VNA) Photo Department. F.8420

Tham Phiu Cave, Plain of Jars, Laos. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Graphic novel excerpt from Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey by G. B. Tran, copyright © 2011 by Gia-Bao Tran. Used by permission of Villard Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Homeless man, Philadelphia. Photo by Linh Dinh

“Cleaning the Drapes,” from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, c. 1967–1972. Martha Rosler

Photo, in American Sports, 1970: Or How We Spent the War in Vietnam (Aperture Press, 2008), Tod Papageorge. Yale University Art Gallery.

“The White Man’s Burden (Apologies to Kipling),” Victor Gillam. The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Choeung Ek stupa skulls. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen

29 Palms: Night Operations III, 2003–2004. © An-My Lê, courtesy Murray Guy, New York

Small Wars (sniper I), 1999–2002. © An-My Lê, courtesy Murray Guy, New York.

“Untitled Cambodia #4,” Cambodia: Splendor and Darkness, Dinh Q. Lê

Story cloth, Chue and Nhia Thao Cha. All rights reserved. Bailey Archive, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Pol Pot tomb, near Anlong Veng, Cambodia. Photo by Viet Thanh Nguyen