"War! What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing!"
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2005
1
6
21
Trip End
May 15, 2006
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Thursday, June 30, 2005
After the half-day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels our tour group made its way to the War Remnant's Museum. The scene was gloomy and somber as Mother Nature rained down her tears that day set to remind us of the horrors mankind is capable of. On the outer edges of the exhibit are photos taken during and after the Vietnam War along with old military vehicles and weapons that were once used during the war. The most intriguing portion of the museum was definitely the photo exhibit. Images of a naked child and her mother running away from a napalm explosion brought me to tears. And how about the residual effects of this war? The faces and limbs of men, women, and children disfigured from the effects of Agent Orange. Children being born with half an arm, leg, face. Their lives and fate were already made for them, destined to become a lowly, wandering beggar. I left the exhibit that day feeling empty and somewhat emotionless not knowing how or what to feel.
Vietnam itself is a walking museum and a horrible reminder of the after effects of war. In some parts of the city you can still see people with disfigured faces from the effects of Agent Orange begging along the streets like hungry ghosts. The indigenous trees that were destroyed by napalm bombs have been replaced with more faster growing eucalyptus trees. The people here all seem to have a story of their own about the war. One person shared with me how he had witnessed his teacher blown up before his very eyes as a young child. Another shared how he was separated from his parents as a young child and was left to live in an orphanage. What do you say to that? How do you feel? I don't know.
Skeletons in Our Closet
I would like to add one final note that I have found to be quite saddening. During 1964 to 1973, the C.I.A. conducted a covert mission that was later to be known as the "Secret War" in Laos. The operations two primary objectives were to stop the to the North Vietnamese, Viet Cong and Pathet Lao allies from infiltrating the south and to halt the export of weapons being supplied to the them via the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which happens to lie along the Vietnam/Laos border. Over a period spanning nine years, three million tons of bombs were dropped along the Trail with a portion of these bombs being anti-personnel cluster bombs. Unfortunately, the residual effects of this mission were that many of the cluster bombs failed to detonate and are still active.
Today, many of the children that inhabit this bomb-infested area are unknowingly picking up these devices, attracted by its bright fluorescent colors. Mainly young children and unsuspecting farmers are activating these cluster bombs with many losing their limbs and sometimes even their lives. And has the United States government done anything to fix this mess? Yes, there has been some aid to help safely detonate these bombs however from the research I have done on the Internet, much of the relief efforts have been discontinued. Today, the country of Loas contains the most un-detonated cluster bombs per capita in the world. And to make matters worse, these bombs were used in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and now Iraq. Let me ask you my fellow Americans, would you be comfortable taking a weekend ski trip to Lake Tahoe if you knew that the California/Nevada border was filled with un-detonated bombs?
Pieces of Ginsberg
. . . America when will we end the human war?
America when will you be angelic?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave? . . .
America why are your libraries full of tears? . . .
Allen Ginsberg (excerpt from "America")
To the lovely people of Vietnam and all that were affected by this tragedy, may you find peace and comfort within your heart.
