Many Americans are dissuaded from a trip to Vietnam because of the war. They will be instantly reassured by the friendliness of the Vietnamese and their philosophy of "the war's over, don't mention it." But inevitably, regardless of your place in the war, it will be time to come take your medicine.
It's amazing how many types of bombs we let loose. Some here carried napalm or phosphorous, some were filled with clusters of nails, and some 3000 lb bombs created small lakes. Here is a sculpture, "Mother," made from shrapnel.
They don't leave much to the imagination.
Inside, it gets much worse. There isn't a lot of empty statements or propaganda--its a stockpile of photographs and artifacts, and most of the atrocities are common knowledge even to Americans. We've all seen the photos of piles of bodies of woman and infants, comparable to a nazi scene. Americans are probably not as aware of the numbers of post-war deformities by napalm, and we're talking some really shocking stuff--stuff I didn't know was biologically possible. And they have documentaries that show these kids being loved and raised as healthy and lovingly as possible by people who can barely afford to feed themselves. I'd imagine some Americans, nudging in the right-wing direction, who'd see this as a very one-sided impression: not going into the causes of the war, Russia's influence, our losses. But I think Howard Zinn would approve, believing that history should be written for the side of the majority, those whose who were affected directly. This pertains to the Vietnamese, and the vast majority of them poor, farming civilians. Sure, someone sat in an office and thought this was a good idea--but seeing the crimes close-up makes it completely inexcusable. So what's a good American to say?
The intense emotions that build up sneak in pretty stealthily, so I was surprised when, after seeing this child's painting, I was doing my damnedest not to break down and start bawling.
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