Senior lieutenant colonel Tran Van Ngoc proudly boasts a treasured collection of over 4,000 war items which serve as reminders of his country’s past.

Ngoc, from the Tay Ninh Military Headquarters, keeps his cherished war items in 68 wooden cabinets at home.

In his yard dangles the shell of an intact K500 LBS bomb, which has its explosive safely removed.

“What’s unique about the bomb is the haunting sounds it produces, which are just like those of a bronze bell. I’ve never owned such a bomb shell before,” shared Ngoc.

Apart from the K500 LBS bomb, Ngoc’s collection also boasts Russian DKP rockets, an American VH chopper propeller, a 175-mm cannon–considered America’s “king of the battlefield”—shrapnel detonators, and Chinese KP2 mines.

In another corner is a camera which was used to take photos of the 12-day aerial battle to safeguard Hanoi in 1972. Next to the camera, which was given to Ngoc by a Russian air defense expert, is the transistor of locally made Sao Mai rocket.

Apart from the weaponry, Ngoc also collects military equipment and the messenger systems adopted among German, Russian and American soldiers. His collection also boasts personal items used by both local and American soldiers.

His most loved items are art works made from weaponry. One such piece is titled “Flowers of the war”: it is a 105-mm cannon with the shell of a bullet coming from its mouth like the petals of a flower. He also innovatively put an M79 hand grenade in the middle as its pistil.

Another of his most treasured art pieces is called the “The Dance”, originally found on a Cambodian battlefield. A B40 shell exploded against a tank and its cartridge burst out in the shape of a dancing woman.

Among Ngoc’s countless mementoes, the notebooks by Nguyen Xuan Luyen, one of Ngoc’s comrades, are most precious to him. In his books, Luyen took meticulous notes of the sets of codes used in communication and made a detailed inventory of his unit’s troop strength and equipment in 1969. Earlier this year, after 40 years, Ngoc returned the notebooks to Luyen.

More than a few American veterans have visited Ngoc’s home to see his treasured war mementoes. In 2011, an American judge and Vietnam war vet was astonished to find his soldier badge in Ngoc’s collections.

Ngoc’s house is filled to the rim with his artifacts.

“My artifacts can’t be purchased with money. When I retire, I’ll open a free exhibition house so that more members of the public can take a look and comment on them,” Ngoc shared.