Vietnam Revisited – Reflections – Chapter 9

Most people have little interest in Vietnam. But some are happily surprised to see american purchases manufactured there, rather than China. But an increasing number of international tourists are now flocking to Vietnam as an exotic adventure and out of curiosity. Not as many Americans come here because it’s quite a distance to travel, unless of course if you are flying business class on Korean Airlines.

Forty years ago, Vietnam conjured up the worst of images; communism and the Vietnam war. Americans being tortured and maimed, the VC - a formidable and ruthless opponent who were much tougher and smarter than imagined…..and you know the rest of the story.  

But who cares about a war that has passed.  We have enough radicals in the middle east wanting to annihilate us, as we are reminded through the merciless daily acts of terrorism...the latest being in Paris. Not like the Vietnam war, we were run out of the country at its conclusion, but at least they didn’t come chasing after us.  In the middle east, unlike Vietnam, there will never be any forgiveness, and generations will pass with middle easterners passing their hate of the great satan to their children while simultaneously planning its destruction.  This is the world that our children will have to endure, as well as the children of their children. 

I must admit to a hawkish outlook regarding our involvement in the middle east. I have been appalled by the cowardice and lack of strategy of Obama in dealing with this present day escalating calamity. Some claim it is his ideological vanity which I interpret to mean that he will never admit that he was wrong. But I am no longer as certain about my position as I was before my trip to Vietnam. 

What have we indeed done in any of our intrusive wars of the past 50 years other then temporarily think we have made a difference, only to acknowledge years later that we have made many things worse. Of course I would differentiate our fighting to protect ourselves from outside invaders, from the pretense of protecting allies that accept our money and military support with one cheek, while funding terrorists that butcher americans worldwide with the other…..like Saudi Arabia for instance. And now the mess in the Middle East has taken on a more dangerous global outreach perspective that requires a swift response which cannot wait for the next POTUS to make.  

I think all Americans should tour Vietnam in this decade before it changes any further.  Twelve years between my two visits have produced tremendous changes – the country of the past is nearly unrecognizable. The Vietnamese have forgiven us and are happy to accept our friendship and money.  I have never felt any undercurrent of animosity, in part because of the age of those I was interacting with, but also because of the natural graciousness, humanity, and kindness of the people. As a country, I love Vietnam!  I can’t believe how much I love this country that I once found repugnant in another life some 40 years ago.

But the War Remnant Museum is a constant reminder of how the Vietnamese hold the united states singularly responsible for the lost lives, deformed children, destroyed cities, and in general all of the ravages of the Vietnamese War.

Every american should walk through this museum with a heavy heart and think about what we have done, and to consider how this knowledge should shape our involvement in other parts of the world.  Looking at internet images is surreal and distant; being there in person makes the experience visceral.  Your eyes will tear and you will cry, and you will feel the shame of our involvement, the guilt, the pain.  Not only for the Vietnamese but for the 60,000 Americans who lost their lives over the 10 years of our involvement.

An entrepreneur at Halong Bay 

Houses are stacked on top of each other to accommodate
multiple generations in the same family