Two nights ago we had a panel presentation on the history of
the Vietnam conflict. Will was one of
the panelists. Another was someone who
had served, and later married a Vietnamese woman, and later worked with Vietnam
Veterans Against the War. And another
was Bob Brigham – a Vassar faculty member who had a very active role in
normalization of relations some years later.
He has some books, including one co-authored with McNamara.
Will did a great job just telling his story and putting it
into a somewhat larger personal context.
Several people have come up to him since to compliment him and to
continue the conversation.
The whole experience of arriving in Vietnam is actually
quite odd for me. I grew up with the war
on TV at dinner every night. Skip
started down the road to Conscientious Objector status until his draft lottery
number came up good. My student
apartment in Michigan was covered with very large maps of Vietnam that we used
to keep track of the conflict.
As we were coming towards land, the sea was littered with
small fishing boats. We took a 4 hour
trip up the Saigon River to reach Ho Chi Minh City. Along the way was a lot of low-lying forested
land, some more fishing boats, and a few dwellings. There were also 2 or 3 story concrete
buildings with one row of small holes on each floor where windows would have
been. Bird noises were coming from
these. Puzzling.
We were briefed last night about all the horrors that can
befall us here in Ho Chi Minh City.
Malaria, dengue fever, pickpockets, petty thievery, automobile/motorbike
accidents, drugged drinks, unsafe sex, drug overdoses, burns from moped exhaust
pipes, etc. Caution will guide us.
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