Quang Ngai: USD 15 million to build peace park commemorating My Lai massacre

(VNF) - The Quang Ngai provincial People's Committee has announced plans for My Lai Park project and My Lai peace foundation.

The Quang Ngai provincial People's Committee has announced plans for My Lai Park project and My Lai peace foundation. (Source: VOV)

Covering an area of 41 hectares, with many features such as the Square, Memorial, or cultural services area, My Lai Park will be built in Tinh Khe Commune, Son Tinh District, Quang Ngai Province, where 504 unarmed civilians were killed in March, 1968. The project has drawn a total investment capital of VND348 billion (USD 15.31 million), provided by the My Lai Peace Foundation and the provincial budget.

Construction is expected to take three to five years and the local government has pledged to help with site clearance and relocation.

Dang Ngoc Dung, the province’s vice chairman, said the project aims to commemorate the victims of a bloody massacre committed 48 years ago and provide a public space to learn about the nation's history, patriotism, and peace, adding that the park will be a place for young people who want to learn about the country’s pains and losses during wartime.

“It will serve as an icon for Quang Ngai and a global destination for peace seekers and anti-war activists,” Dung said.

Truong Ngoc Thuy, chairwoman of the My Lai Peace Foundation which will collect sponsorship for the park, said that it is inspired by similar parks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were hit by American atomic bombs during World War II.

“The park will connect with all peace parks around the world,” Thuy said.

Her foundation also works to support residents in the war-torn province.

Women and children are gathered on March 16^th, 1968, before the My Lai massacre in Quang Ngai Province, as shown in a photo that Vietnam War photographer Ronald Haerle. (Photo provided to VnExpress)

The My Lai Massacre, described by historians as “the most shocking episode of the Vietnam War,” was named after a village in Quang Ngai’s Son Tinh District where 504 unnamed people, including women and children, were killed.

To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the slayings, which had ignited protests and anti-war movements in the U.S. and across the world, Quang Ngai is also making a bronze bell of more than one metric ton and two meters tall which will toll at a ceremony on March 16^th this year.

The bell will replace a smaller one at the Son My Relic Site./.

VNF