War memorial

Wandering ghosts are the unhappy spirits of people who died too young, whose deaths were violent or unexpected, or who died far from home without a proper burial by their families. The need to bring home those who have died far away and to bury them properly is deeply felt. Failure at this task is far more than a bitter personal loss; it condemns the loved one to wander the Earth restlessly for eternity

Out of pity, people make offerings of food, paper money and clothing to these wandering ghosts throughout the year, especially on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, when all souls are freed from hell for a day.

This space is an offering to all wandering ghosts, military and civilian, Vietnamese and foreign, who lost their lives in the armed struggles and wars that engulfed Vietnam in the 20th century.

There were those who, enlisted by main force,
Left their beloved to go and serve the state
With water scooped from brooks, rice kept in tubes,
They trudged along rain-swept, wind-beaten trails. . .
Stray bullets and chance arrows smote them down.
Wills-o’-the-wisp, they flutter to and fro
As darkness echoes with their piteous moans.

—Nguyen Du (1764-1820) "Calling all Wandering Souls"
(Translated y Huynh Sanh Thong)