Old man and his historic museum

11:30' 11/04/2006 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet – With daring ideas, a man has spent over VND3bil (US$187,500) to rebuild a village in the central Quang Binh province to look as it did in wartime. Nguyen Xuan Lien, 64, from Hoai Duc District, Ha Tay Province, has made an “outdoor museum” on 10ha of Village 7, in Nghia Ninh Commune, Dong Hoi City, central Quang Binh province, by rebuilding an impressive view of a Vietnamese village in wartime. After crossing a small bridge, visitors are inside the museum. A number of hills set with craters and oil drums, surrounded by a network of communication trenches. Next to these is a small village with about ten houses, including a residence, an infirmary with an operating room under a trench; a kindergarten, school, store and a command post. Each residence has special and different decoration, with symbolic style from different regions and people of the time, together with views of trees, poultry and animals. Lien also built a memorial monument for late medical staff, his old unit mates, killed in action in the area. His museum includes two historic heritage pieces: an piece of an oil-pipeline that linked to the South, running under Ba Da Lake, and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun used around Dong Hoi. “I had not planned to open a museum, I was just following my inspiration,” Mr Lien said about his museum. “The inspiration grew day by day, until I could not stop myself thinking about it. I have tried my best to rebuild by memory, experience and my life during that bloody time in the museum”. Lien further revealed that he would recreate part of the Truong Son Road in the museum, with hills, water spring, and forest. To bring his idea to life, Lien and a friend travelled the area collecting parts of old houses and implements from the war. “I was often called a crazy man for my project, which I have spent all my wealth on,” Lien said. “However, I believe that my work is right. My unit mates would be happy to see it from heaven.” Lien’s museum touched many of its visitors. “This is the first place I saw what it was like during the fighting between the Vietnamese and American armies. Now, I am really touched by the will of the people, by their intelligence and force, and also the great work of Mr Lien”, said Matthias Bolz, a painter from German. Mr Lien had fought in the army from 1960s, on the Binh Tri Thien battlefield (presently Quang Tri province). In the 1970s, Lien moved north to Thai Nguyen’s Medical School and from 1983 he worked in Hanoi until he retired in 2003. “I spent my whole life in healthcare. The years on the Quang Binh battlefield are unforgettable to me. It is the reason that I made the museum.” Lien said. In 1992, he visited the former battlefield and his late unit mates. He promised them he would return, and make their memory live on. In 2003, Lien sold his house in Hanoi, and collected money from his two sons, a little over VND2bil (US$125,000), and returned to Quang Binh to keep his promise. Tran Anh Tuan, Director of Quang Binh Collective Museum said, “Lien’s museum is a line between the past and the present. It is to help young people to understand more of their history”. (Source: GD&XH) file:///I:/Bao%20%20Vuc%20Quanh/nguyen%20xuan%20lien.htm