Cambodia War Museum

Cambodia’s final 30 years of the 20th century was a devastating time of multiple wars, including a horrible civil war during which roughly 25% of the population was killed, many as part of a genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime in the mid-1970s. The history is difficult and confusing, and I still don’t feel like I understand it nearly well enough to properly summarize it.

As part of our time in Siem Reap, we visited several museums and memorials to get a better sense of what happened and get some firsthand perspective from local guides. One such visit was to the Cambodia War Museum that focuses on the conflicts that raged during the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. In addition to having tons of equipment to look at (shelves and shelves of guns, shells, rockets, etc.) or climb on (tanks, jet fighter planes, helicopters, etc.), the best part of the experience for us was getting a tour of the grounds by a man named Moun Sinarth. He is a war veteran who fought with the Cambodian army against the Khmer Rouge and received so many injuries that were thought to be fatal that he earned the nickname “the cat” (for the whole 9 lives thing). In his own words, he says he has “died about ten times.” He has numerous injuries that he spent time showing us and explaining, including a lost right leg from a landmine (he uses a prosthetic), several scars from bullet wounds, and a large piece of shrapnel that is still stuck in his left leg that he moved around for us. It was educational to see all the war relics, but was even more moving to get to talk with Moun Sinarth and hear his perspective. An Australian author named Karl Levy wrote a book about him called “Sinarth: A dedication to life” that we ended up buying and had Moun Sinarth sign for us. The War Museum was a memorable place brought to life even more by our time with Sinarth.