I love the smell of napalm in the morning!
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2006
1
51
94
Trip End
Jul 15, 2007
Nha Trang,
Vietnam
Saturday, September 16, 2006
3 Reasons "the Nomad" thinks that Asians might be the funniest creatures alive:
1. They are odd little people who do really funny things when they get excited.
2. There names are really fun to say. They are always one syllable (i.e. Long, Dong, Vong, Slong, etc.....)
3. They have "CRAZY EYES!"
I am retracting my previous statement about the Vietnamese people being unfriendly. I made a premature statement based off of just a few days in a big city (Saigon) and my preconceived notions about the country. Vietnam is nothing like I expected it to be. It is decades ahead of Cambodia and Laos put together when it comes to living standards. I have been really surprised so for by how modern Vietnam is (city life, transportation, roads, etc.) Granted I am still in the South which is supposedly much more modern then the North. I have really enjoyed my time so far in Vietnam. Unfortunately my visa runs out in just a little over 2 weeks, so I either need to extend my visa for another month, or make my way into China?
I have been to a few sites dedicated to the war (museums and such.) It has been really interesting to learn about and see the war presented from the North Vietnamese (Communist Government) perspective. If anything, the point of view is completely biased making the Viet Cong the "innocent victims" of a unjust American super power trying to spread its "evil" capitalist ways. It is interesting to see how people write and tell history to fit there own personal agendas.
Here is a really interesting fact:
The current Vietnamese government does not refer to the war as the "Vietnam War" or the "Vietnam Conflict" like we refer to it as. They call it the "American war, or "The Resistance War Against the Americans to Save the Nation." The last one is a bit long winded, but what ever?
My Sr. year of university I had a roommate named "Throbin Hood" who decided to use his student loan to purchase a 65 inch wide screen TV for our college apartment. I of course thought that was a great idea! Not much classing went on, but we would watch movies for hours on end. Some of our favorites were Vietnam war flicks. I wanted to end this with a quote from a movie but could not eliminate it to just one so in true "Johnny Nomad" fashion I came up with a list, this id my top 20 favorite Vietnam war quotes.
Side note on how my "roomy" got the title "Throbin Hood?" Well you see, he had a bit of a "fiddling problem." He was a big fan of the "online luv pics," but he felt that it was unjustly overpriced. He decided that he was going to make it his life long quest to liberate "online porn" and make it free for all the boys and girls of the world to use and enjoy freely! Robin Hood of the "porn world" = Throbin Hood
Cool bit of info for you guys! This website has moved up to the #1 spot on "goggle" and #2 spot on "yahoo" search engines!
Till next time......................I'll play Bobby, you play Whitney! ~Johnny Nomad
20. "This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of my enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen." ~Marines (chanting)
(Full Metal Jacket)
19. "The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive." ~Private Joker (Full Metal Jacket)
18. "It's a way we had over here with living with ourselves. We cut 'em in half with a machine gun and give 'em a Band-Aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies." ~Willard (Apocalypse Now)
17. "They don't give a shit about the war! Yeah! To them it's just a million miles away. It's all bullshit, anyway. I mean, the government sold us a bill of goods and we bought it, and got the shit kicked out of us, and for what, huh?" ~Steve Boyer (Born on the Fourth of July)
16. "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army." ~Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)
15. "We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write "fuck" on their airplanes because it's obscene!" ~Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)
14. "I used to think if I died in an evil place then my soul wouldn't make it to heaven. Well, fuck. I don't care where it goes as long it ain't here." ~Chef (Apocalypse Now)
13. "Well, here I am, anonymous all right. With guys nobody really cares about. They come from the end of the line, most of 'em. Small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Van, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years' high school's about it, maybe if they're lucky a job waiting for them back at a factory, but most of 'em got nothing. They're poor, they're the unwanted, yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? They're the bottom of the barrel and they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts, cause a grunt can take it, can take anything. They're the best I've ever seen, Grandma. The heart & soul." -Chris Taylor (Platoon)
12. "And if there's a heaven and God I hope there is, I know he's sitting up there, drunk as a fucking monkey and smoking shit. Because he left his pains down here." ~Rhah (Platoon)
11. "I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill!" ~Private Joker (Full Metal Jacket)
10. "A day without blood is like a day without sunshine." ~Private Joker (Full Metal Jacket)
9. "Holy dog shit. Texas? Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private Cowboy. And you don't look much like a steer to me so that kinda narrows it down. Do you suck dicks?" ~Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)
8. "I don't like the name Lawrence, only faggots and sailors are called Lawrence. From now on you're Gomer Pyle." ~Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)
7. "Personally, I think, uh... they don't really want to be involved in this war. You know, I mean... they sort of took away our freedom and gave it to the, to the gookers, you know. But they don't want it. They'd rather be alive than free, I guess. Poor dumb bastards." ~Private Eightball (Full Metal Jacket)
6. "I served my country - and they just want to take from it - just take, take! Love it or leave it, that's what I think." ~Ron Kovic (Born on the Fourth of July)
5. Private Joker: "How can you shoot women and children?"
Door Gunner: "Easy... you don't lead 'em so much." [laughs]
Door Gunner: "Ain't war hell?"
(Full Metal Jacket)
4. "Today... is Christmas! There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty! Chaplain Charlie will tell you about how the free world will conquer Communism with the aid of God and a few marines! God has a hard-on for marines because we kill everything we see! He plays His games, we play ours! To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep heaven packed with fresh souls! God was here before the Marine Corps! So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the Corps! Do you ladies understand?" ~Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)
3. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." ~Kilgore (Apocalypse Now)
2. "Charlie don't surf!" ~Kilgore (Apocalypse Now)
1. "Hey, you got girlfriend Vietnam? Me so horny. Me love you long time." ~Da Nang Hooker (Full Metal Jacket)
Comments
Long one this time
Nothing from Deer Hunter?