From War Memory to Heritage Preservation and Valorization: The Vinh Loc Civilian Wartime Logistics Workers Memorial Site and the 1968 Tet Offensive

The Vinh Loc Civilian Wartime Logistics Workers Memorial Site commemorates 32 civilian wartime logistics workers who lost their lives during an air attack on the night of 15 June 1968. Twenty-five were women, most of them very young. Their story sheds light on the role of civilians in the logistical networks that supported military operations around Saigon–Gia Dinh during the 1968 Tet Offensive. The event has remained part of local memory for more than half a century, preserved through family narratives, eyewitness accounts, and a collective death-anniversary ceremony held each year. Using documentary sources, field observations, and accounts from witnesses and local participants, this study reconstructs the historical setting of the Vinh Loc event and traces the ways in which its memory has been maintained and passed on. Historical analysis and source criticism are combined with perspectives from memory and heritage studies. The significance of Vinh Loc lies not only in the wartime event itself. It also rests on the continuing connection between the site, the people who died there, their families, and the community that has kept their memory alive. Seen from this perspective, Vinh Loc offers a distinct case within Vietnam’s war heritage and draws attention to the experiences of civilian wartime logistics workers, especially young women, whose contribution has received less attention than that of combat forces. Preserving the site requires careful historical documentation as well as continued attention to community memory, commemoration, and historical education. Memory tourism can bring this history to a wider public, but its development needs to respect the commemorative character of the site and the historical experiences it represents. Rather than turning wartime loss into a tourism commodity, the valorization of Vinh Loc should help preserve and communicate the memory of those who died and deepen public understanding of the human costs of war.