VHM_0061

Descriptive title
Comb
Initial context
"Re-education" Camp
Object type(s)
Personal care item
Material(s)
Metal
Collection
Vietnamese Heritage Museum
Donor(s)
Vũ Huy Thám
Current location
Vietnamese Heritage Museum
Rights description

Object donated to the Vietnamese Heritage Museum by Vũ Huy Thám

Data license
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
VHM_0061
VHM_0061
VHM_0061
VHM_0061
VHM_0061
VHM_0061

Timeline

  • Comb Origin

    Vietnam
    "Re-education" Camp
    1979

    In 1979, while imprisoned at the Gia Trung reeducation camp in Pleiku, Vũ Huy Thâm crafted a comb from the wreckage of a South Vietnam Air Force plane shot down in the surrounding forests. After shaping and polishing the metal, he asked a fellow inmate to engrave the intertwined initials “T” and “H” to represent himself and his wife, Lê Thị Nguyệt Hồng. 

  • Comb smuggled through Pleiku

    Vietnam
    In Transit
    End of 1979

    The comb was secretly delivered to Vũ Huy Thâm’s family when they traveled from Cần Thơ to Pleiku to visit him at the Gia Trung reeducation camp at the end of 1979.