Vietnam

3/29
Today was my third day in Vietnam. I have been to Fanny’s Ice Cream 4 times and picked up 3 of my 6 hand-made articles of clothing. Two friends and I made our way to the War Remnants Museum this afternoon which is an intense place depiciting the atrocities of the American War (Vietnam War) from the Vietnamese perspective. The exhibit focused on the massacre at My Lai as well as the legacy of deformation, erosion, and contamination that the widespread use of Agent Orange left behind. Yesterday I visited an orphanage for mentally and physically disable children. The physical disfiguration that some of these children are born with is unbelievable. Their limbs are bent at unimaginable angles, and sometimes without limbs at all. It seems impossible but children effected by Agent Orange and Dioxin are still being born. If one of their parents was exposed to it in the war they are at risk of passing it down to their kids. (Not to mention the high levels of the chemicals in the water, soil, and food.)
Despite what you would think there is little or no hostility here towards Americans. Of course there are little or no people of that generation (in their 50s/60s) around. It is still “a big deal,” as our professors explained it, to Americans because it is considered recent history.
Two nights before Vietnam I attended Professor Wager’s Community College event. We was in the infantry during the wat from 1969-70. He graduated from college on a Saturday and his draft notice was waiting for him on Monday. He was a philosophy major and debated the ethics of war extensively. In order to make his decision (fleeing to Canada or enlisting) he asked himself 3 questions. 1. Is any war moral? He decided that no- it isn’t inherently wrong to be in the army. 2. Is the Vietnam War moral? And 3. Is the way we’re fighting the Vietnam War moral? He went to Vietnam and was one of the oldest soldiers there. (Most were in their late teens and early twenties). He explained it as a bunch of college freshmen with weapons and no teachers let lose in the country. They way the war was fought- the tactics he saw implemented and the orders given- were immoral. He refused an order to board a helicopter in the invasion of Cambodia in May 1970 and was court marshaled. Despite facing jail time (5 years), demotion, and dishonorable discharge without any money- he evaded it all. His laywer was prepared to take the case all the way to the top (the illegality of the order to invade Cambodia) and instead of risking it, they let him off the hook. In part he believes it was because the military was by that time full of people who had their own doubts about the war. Wager’s ultimate message was that the army is a moral organization despite its flaws.
Today I wandered to the military surplus market in HCMC and looked through various odds and ends and remnants of the war that are all piled into this warehouse of tools and parts (that looks amazingly like Opa’s garage) and stumbled across some dog tags. Most of them were Vietnamese names but there was one American one in the mix- a Rheuben L. Early- who I know was A neg (blood type?) and a Protestant, along with his U.S. military and social security numbers. I assume that because his dog tag is still in HCMC that he died while in Vietnam- one of 59,000. And 60,000 sounds small compared to the millions of Vietnamese that were killed. I guess for this reason I find it strange that is isn’t a lingering issue here like it is at home (perhaps that is in part because they won.)
On a lighter note, HCMC has provided some great experiences. One of the many highlights thus far has been the overwhelming shopping excursions to Ben Than Market and the buying in mass amount of bootleg DVDs (including many TV shows!) Let’s just say that there will be no work being done from this point in the voyage on. (We were warned about this.)
Tomorrow I’m off to the Mekong Delta!