*A note: This blog entry is dedicated to all those who suffered and continue to suffer due to the horrific Vietnam War and others like it. I will warn you now that the Vietnam War is the subject of this blog entry. If you are uninterested then you may want to skip it. I will be posting a separate blog entry about my adventures in Vietnam.
Vietnam is beyond an interesting place for this intrepid traveler. Not only is it a place where eating things like dog is not that uncommon but it's mountains hold a beauty that has the essence
of a secret, and its history of the last century alone is enough to make anyone's head spin. After the Vietnam war they had to defend their country from the Khmer Rouge, they then continued the fight against the Khmer Rouge and saved the many Cambodians suffering at the hands of Pol Pot. And before the Vietnam War they were fighting French colonization and Japanese invaders. They just seem to never get a break! I have been very interested in learning more about and trying to understand the Vietnam War since I arrived. And I have to say being here clears up a lot of confusion for me.
Not that I was alive during the war but I, like many others have seen many movies and heard many things from that time period. I think one of the most common things we hear is the quote when soldiers returned home of "We didn't even know why we were there or who we were fighting." They were confused about the war, why they were fighting it, what they were fighting for, and even who they were fighting. I never understood that really. Maybe it is my naiveness about war but I always thought, "How did you not know who you were fighting? Obviously the bad guys from the North who wanted to destroy the democratic South. And you were obviously fighting the Communist North in order to stop them from taking over, with force, a democratic and free land. After all, a foreign government can not just invade a land because they want it and then expect the world to lay down and say, 'OK, go ahead'.". But the truth is, it is just not that simple!
Besides learning about the unclear lines, historical facts, and masked reasons for the war, I have also learned from the Vietnamese a new perception on the war. One I think many Americans would find interesting. Hearing the Vietnamese perception, that has been backed by years of propaganda but also of truth, may anger some Americans, may sadden others, but also may act to help open our minds a little about current world situations. Specifically those occurring in the middle east. Its like we never learned from our mistakes! So I apologize right now, in advance, if I anger or upset anyone with my current views on the war that I am about to share. But I assure you I do not mean to. I would only like for more people to learn what I have learned. It would be nice if everyone could come here and see and hear details first hand, but I know that is an impossibility for most. So I want to share what I have seen and learned so that you to may form new opinions and perspectives.
I grew up believing I think the same as most in my generation. It was a war we should have never been in. It was to fight the evil communist that we were deathly afraid of after the cold war. It was a war the no one won. However, my opinion now is that it is still a war we should have never been in, it was a war based on little fact, and the communist were not so evil. And by the way, some one did win, it just wasn't us! True both sides suffered grate losses along the way and no one ever really wins when there is war, but someone still comes out with the power, and this time it was the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, the VC's, the Vietnamese Communists... not America. We just can not seem to admit we lost a war. And I find it incredibly tragic and appalling that boys, young boys, of ours came here and gave their lives believing they were fighting for freedom, for rights, defending those who could not defend themselves, when these beliefs could not be further from the truth. No wonder our soldiers were so confused!
The following is my perception on the war. This is based on what I learned growing up, what I learned by being here, what I have seen and what I have heard from those who were here at the time. There are many pieces to the puzzle and I am sure I am missing facts and that there are others out there who may offer a lot more insight on the subject. What I offer to you is simply my perception after piecing together facts and mixed accounts, American and Vietnamese perceptions. The two are so different and I was always sure the truth lay somewhere in the middle, but I had no clue how deep the middle went!
It would seem that the Vietnamese did not want us here at all, the north or the south. To exemplify this just think about this. The whole world calls it the"Vietnam War" because to the whole world (excluding Vietnam itself) it was North versus South Vietnam. With America, Australia, GB, and others helping the South Vietnamese. But the Vietnamese call it the "American War". Because to them it was not the North versus the South. To them it was Vietnam versus America, ALL of Vietnam as one entity. If anything, us being here only acted to unify the country even more. What we call "the fall of Saigon", they call "the liberation of Saigon". Maybe this is more propaganda from their communist government, but I believe it is the feeling that resides with most Vietnamese.
You see, the separation of Vietnam into the North and South only came after French occupation (Vietnam had been fighting with the French for control of their own land long before America or the rest of the western countries got involved). The North Vietnamese gained their independence with a Communist government. The South gained its "independence" with a democratic government set up by the French. But this was not the true government that the majority of Southern people wanted. This government was meant to have elections after a couple of years to see if the Southern Vietnamese wanted to join the North and become one country. But these elections were never held. Those in charge in the South knew they would loose and therefore loose their power. So these elections never occurred, angering many. Furthermore, the Southern "democratic" government started to take away rights, including the freedom of religion. Many were told they could not be Buddhist anymore. This was a crime against their culture and humanity as most were Buddhist. But the French controlled
government wanted people to become Christian. On June 11, 1963 a Buddhist monk drove from the North to the South's capital, Saigon, and sitting in lotus position in the middle of the street burned himself in protest (the famous picture depicting as much is on the right). So the South was not in fact the free and democratic government we were told we were defending. I am sure there is more to it and that the South was doing some good things for its people as well. After all, there were 6 million people who fled Vietnam after the war because they were supporters for the South. And I am also sure that the way the story has been told to me now, in Vietnam, is also bias towards the North as it is now a country ruled by that same Northern Communist government. But even when considering the fact that these accounts are bias (which some would argue are due to communist brainwashing) it is undeniable, after visiting some of the war torn regions, the lengths these Southerners went to in order to fight and defeat the "evil Americans". It is blatantly obvious they did not want us there. We thought we were defending the South, but they only see it as we were attacking the South. And they do not understand why such a big country so far away would want to attack them. And by the way, it is always the "evil Americans" they were fighting. They seem to have no knowledge that other countries were here as well.
I was so confused the day I visited Q'Cu Chi Tunnels outside of Vietnam. Here I was staring at the reason we lost the war, the guerrilla warfare tactics and the lengths these people went to to
fight us were amazing. They truly show the resilience of the Vietnamese people. I was confused 
here because it was obvious that Southerners were against us and going through grate, grate pains to fight us. This did not make any sense because I thought we were here helping the South. Why would they want to fight us? It took me a little bit to wrap my head around the fact that our "help" was not wanted. And later, when I learned the facts behind the so-called democratic government we were defending it was no wonder the Southerns did not want 
our "help". The majority wanted to be unified with North Vietnam with no line separating the two. But this is something we as a population were not told, and due to our culture would find hard to believe. After all, following the cold war the typical American thought was, "Who in their right minds would want to be communist?". So we sent in soldiers, tanks, and bombs to defend a democracy, in my opinion, that was not worth defending. It is no wonder to me now that our soldiers did not know who they were fighting or why. One minute a Southerner is on your side, the next minute another is trying to kill you. Being raised with an American culture background and without knowing the background of the South's government, I too would be confused by the fact that some Southerner's were not happy to see me there.
In the end the guerrilla warfare tactics worked and the "evil Americans" fled from Vietnam. It is no wonder we lost the war when you see first hand the lengths they went to. After all, they were defending their home, we were just a bunch of lost boys who wanted to go back to our home. They had heart and soul, we had bombs and technology. They won. Goes to show how important heart and soul can be in war. Technology just couldn't compete.
And today, I would have to say from an observers stand point, Communist seems to be working for them. It does not seem evil or repressive. The people here are not scared of the government, they talk freely about the good and the bad parts of their government, they practice religion freely, and everyone seems to be provided for. I was in SaiGon, now Ho Chi Minh City, for 5 days and I saw a total of 5 beggars! I can not even go to Philly and expect to see less than that in one hour, let alone five days. The people here are happy and friendly and I am told that if someone is begging and needs help, the government finds a place for them in society. They provide housing, medical treatment, education, and a job that suits that persons abilities. Many people do have limited abilities as they suffer from the long term effects of the war, like agent orange.
And in this communist country, capitalism seems to be alive and well! In the major cities you see
Lexus's and Mercedes, businesses flourishing, and people moving up and down the economical grid. And with a little DNS magic, the outlawed Facebook becomes accessible too. Vietnam's economy has only grown since the "American War", especially since 1990 when the government changed many of its policies. People act freely and wear smiles on their faces here. Unlike the rest of South East Asia people are not chasing you down to sell you something. People are not starving and begging. People are not repressed. I only saw a total of 5 beggars in total in Saigon, nd probably another 5 throughout the rest of the country. When someone needs a home and food the govrnment is siad to find a place for them in society. Many are trained on artisan craft and live in an artisan village. I have to say once again, from an outsider perspective, communism looks like it is working for Vietnam.
And today the Vietnamese no longer look at Americans as "evil". Anytime something from the war comes up they all say the same thing, "Oh, but we friends now. We do not look at our past but our future and our friendships (*proud smile*)".
Vietnam is beyond an interesting place for this intrepid traveler. Not only is it a place where eating things like dog is not that uncommon but it's mountains hold a beauty that has the essence
of a secret, and its history of the last century alone is enough to make anyone's head spin. After the Vietnam war they had to defend their country from the Khmer Rouge, they then continued the fight against the Khmer Rouge and saved the many Cambodians suffering at the hands of Pol Pot. And before the Vietnam War they were fighting French colonization and Japanese invaders. They just seem to never get a break! I have been very interested in learning more about and trying to understand the Vietnam War since I arrived. And I have to say being here clears up a lot of confusion for me.Not that I was alive during the war but I, like many others have seen many movies and heard many things from that time period. I think one of the most common things we hear is the quote when soldiers returned home of "We didn't even know why we were there or who we were fighting." They were confused about the war, why they were fighting it, what they were fighting for, and even who they were fighting. I never understood that really. Maybe it is my naiveness about war but I always thought, "How did you not know who you were fighting? Obviously the bad guys from the North who wanted to destroy the democratic South. And you were obviously fighting the Communist North in order to stop them from taking over, with force, a democratic and free land. After all, a foreign government can not just invade a land because they want it and then expect the world to lay down and say, 'OK, go ahead'.". But the truth is, it is just not that simple!
Besides learning about the unclear lines, historical facts, and masked reasons for the war, I have also learned from the Vietnamese a new perception on the war. One I think many Americans would find interesting. Hearing the Vietnamese perception, that has been backed by years of propaganda but also of truth, may anger some Americans, may sadden others, but also may act to help open our minds a little about current world situations. Specifically those occurring in the middle east. Its like we never learned from our mistakes! So I apologize right now, in advance, if I anger or upset anyone with my current views on the war that I am about to share. But I assure you I do not mean to. I would only like for more people to learn what I have learned. It would be nice if everyone could come here and see and hear details first hand, but I know that is an impossibility for most. So I want to share what I have seen and learned so that you to may form new opinions and perspectives.
I grew up believing I think the same as most in my generation. It was a war we should have never been in. It was to fight the evil communist that we were deathly afraid of after the cold war. It was a war the no one won. However, my opinion now is that it is still a war we should have never been in, it was a war based on little fact, and the communist were not so evil. And by the way, some one did win, it just wasn't us! True both sides suffered grate losses along the way and no one ever really wins when there is war, but someone still comes out with the power, and this time it was the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, the VC's, the Vietnamese Communists... not America. We just can not seem to admit we lost a war. And I find it incredibly tragic and appalling that boys, young boys, of ours came here and gave their lives believing they were fighting for freedom, for rights, defending those who could not defend themselves, when these beliefs could not be further from the truth. No wonder our soldiers were so confused!
The following is my perception on the war. This is based on what I learned growing up, what I learned by being here, what I have seen and what I have heard from those who were here at the time. There are many pieces to the puzzle and I am sure I am missing facts and that there are others out there who may offer a lot more insight on the subject. What I offer to you is simply my perception after piecing together facts and mixed accounts, American and Vietnamese perceptions. The two are so different and I was always sure the truth lay somewhere in the middle, but I had no clue how deep the middle went!
It would seem that the Vietnamese did not want us here at all, the north or the south. To exemplify this just think about this. The whole world calls it the"Vietnam War" because to the whole world (excluding Vietnam itself) it was North versus South Vietnam. With America, Australia, GB, and others helping the South Vietnamese. But the Vietnamese call it the "American War". Because to them it was not the North versus the South. To them it was Vietnam versus America, ALL of Vietnam as one entity. If anything, us being here only acted to unify the country even more. What we call "the fall of Saigon", they call "the liberation of Saigon". Maybe this is more propaganda from their communist government, but I believe it is the feeling that resides with most Vietnamese.
You see, the separation of Vietnam into the North and South only came after French occupation (Vietnam had been fighting with the French for control of their own land long before America or the rest of the western countries got involved). The North Vietnamese gained their independence with a Communist government. The South gained its "independence" with a democratic government set up by the French. But this was not the true government that the majority of Southern people wanted. This government was meant to have elections after a couple of years to see if the Southern Vietnamese wanted to join the North and become one country. But these elections were never held. Those in charge in the South knew they would loose and therefore loose their power. So these elections never occurred, angering many. Furthermore, the Southern "democratic" government started to take away rights, including the freedom of religion. Many were told they could not be Buddhist anymore. This was a crime against their culture and humanity as most were Buddhist. But the French controlled
government wanted people to become Christian. On June 11, 1963 a Buddhist monk drove from the North to the South's capital, Saigon, and sitting in lotus position in the middle of the street burned himself in protest (the famous picture depicting as much is on the right). So the South was not in fact the free and democratic government we were told we were defending. I am sure there is more to it and that the South was doing some good things for its people as well. After all, there were 6 million people who fled Vietnam after the war because they were supporters for the South. And I am also sure that the way the story has been told to me now, in Vietnam, is also bias towards the North as it is now a country ruled by that same Northern Communist government. But even when considering the fact that these accounts are bias (which some would argue are due to communist brainwashing) it is undeniable, after visiting some of the war torn regions, the lengths these Southerners went to in order to fight and defeat the "evil Americans". It is blatantly obvious they did not want us there. We thought we were defending the South, but they only see it as we were attacking the South. And they do not understand why such a big country so far away would want to attack them. And by the way, it is always the "evil Americans" they were fighting. They seem to have no knowledge that other countries were here as well.I was so confused the day I visited Q'Cu Chi Tunnels outside of Vietnam. Here I was staring at the reason we lost the war, the guerrilla warfare tactics and the lengths these people went to to
fight us were amazing. They truly show the resilience of the Vietnamese people. I was confused here because it was obvious that Southerners were against us and going through grate, grate pains to fight us. This did not make any sense because I thought we were here helping the South. Why would they want to fight us? It took me a little bit to wrap my head around the fact that our "help" was not wanted. And later, when I learned the facts behind the so-called democratic government we were defending it was no wonder the Southerns did not want our "help". The majority wanted to be unified with North Vietnam with no line separating the two. But this is something we as a population were not told, and due to our culture would find hard to believe. After all, following the cold war the typical American thought was, "Who in their right minds would want to be communist?". So we sent in soldiers, tanks, and bombs to defend a democracy, in my opinion, that was not worth defending. It is no wonder to me now that our soldiers did not know who they were fighting or why. One minute a Southerner is on your side, the next minute another is trying to kill you. Being raised with an American culture background and without knowing the background of the South's government, I too would be confused by the fact that some Southerner's were not happy to see me there.In the end the guerrilla warfare tactics worked and the "evil Americans" fled from Vietnam. It is no wonder we lost the war when you see first hand the lengths they went to. After all, they were defending their home, we were just a bunch of lost boys who wanted to go back to our home. They had heart and soul, we had bombs and technology. They won. Goes to show how important heart and soul can be in war. Technology just couldn't compete.And today, I would have to say from an observers stand point, Communist seems to be working for them. It does not seem evil or repressive. The people here are not scared of the government, they talk freely about the good and the bad parts of their government, they practice religion freely, and everyone seems to be provided for. I was in SaiGon, now Ho Chi Minh City, for 5 days and I saw a total of 5 beggars! I can not even go to Philly and expect to see less than that in one hour, let alone five days. The people here are happy and friendly and I am told that if someone is begging and needs help, the government finds a place for them in society. They provide housing, medical treatment, education, and a job that suits that persons abilities. Many people do have limited abilities as they suffer from the long term effects of the war, like agent orange.
And in this communist country, capitalism seems to be alive and well! In the major cities you see
Lexus's and Mercedes, businesses flourishing, and people moving up and down the economical grid. And with a little DNS magic, the outlawed Facebook becomes accessible too. Vietnam's economy has only grown since the "American War", especially since 1990 when the government changed many of its policies. People act freely and wear smiles on their faces here. Unlike the rest of South East Asia people are not chasing you down to sell you something. People are not starving and begging. People are not repressed. I only saw a total of 5 beggars in total in Saigon, nd probably another 5 throughout the rest of the country. When someone needs a home and food the govrnment is siad to find a place for them in society. Many are trained on artisan craft and live in an artisan village. I have to say once again, from an outsider perspective, communism looks like it is working for Vietnam.And today the Vietnamese no longer look at Americans as "evil". Anytime something from the war comes up they all say the same thing, "Oh, but we friends now. We do not look at our past but our future and our friendships (*proud smile*)".
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