Moving on to our last country on Friday April 11, which is day 30 out of 55 of our SE Asia tour. One would think that at some point we would get tired of that much touring but our schedule varies enough with some short days and other days completely on our own. Some days that we dread from reading their descriptions turn out to be just delightful. We have very mixed feelings about Vietnam given its relationship to our lives and United States history here. Some of you may not know about the stark contrast in the early years of our lives based on choices that the Vietnam War presented. Sandy’s first husband went to Vietnam three months after their marriage as he owed the government four years of his life for funding his college tuition. Sandy and her husband were both quite traumatized by the war and lost some dear friends. Jim, Sandy’s second husband, on the other hand hated war and disliked even the idea of military service. His only way of getting out of being drafted with his number 19 lottery pick was to attend medical school. Jim lost no friends or acquaintances during the war.
This city used to be called Sai Gon (Saigon in English spelling) and is still called that by many people who live here, even the young ones.Checking in to The Park Hyatt, a very basic luxury hotel in the center of the city and steps away from fascinating attractions. Unfortunately we don’t step out the front door because it is so hot and humid here that our clothes are soaking wet within minutes of going out. Has anyone noticed that Jim always wears the same outfit for air travel? The sport coat is his purse in which he keeps cellular, passports, boarding passes and wallet. He can just throw his coat into the airport security bin rather than everything individually.Our guide in Ho Chi Minh City is Phuc but he said to call him Frank. We liked him instantly as he is into running and healthy living. He tailored our first day to start with a tour of Independence Palace also known as the Reunification Convention Hall. It was the home and workplace of the president of the Republic of Vietnam(South Vietnam) but is now preserved as a museum.We are here on a weekend so as you can see from these photos it was jam packed with people. Most of the women were stunning in their traditional clothing and conical hats.These are Vietnamese Army veterans who are gathered here to commemorate the 50 year reunification of Vietnam uniting as one North and South Vietnam on April 30 1975.The Vietnamese women loved having their pictures taken with the war veterans.Many of the children were so cute dressed in military attire. We always ask permission from parents before taking pictures of their children.We call these kids “little Buddhas”.On the morning of April 30 1975, a column of seven North Vietnamese tanks rolled down Saigon’s deserted streets and crashed through these gates of the South Vietnam’s presidential palace. A soldier then pulled down the flag of South Vietnam on top of the Palace and raised the Viet Cong flag signifying the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War.A tank similar to this one crashed through the gates.See below for interesting info on this aircraft which was the reason the president of the United States decided to withdraw US troops from Saigon. Palace conference hall can receive up to 500 guests. This is where on April 21 1975 the president of South Vietnam delivered his resignation speech about the countries situation in the wake of the American’s decision to discontinue military support and withdrawing troops from Saigon.Presidential Reception rooms. In 1972 President Nixon’s National Security advisor Henry Kissinger met in this room to persuade General Thieu to accept the agreement which was eventually enacted as the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973.Picture of Sandy’s fist bump connection with one of the school children who was also touring the Palace. They just love to say “hello” in English and give us beautiful smiles.A staircase from the President’s office gave direct access to this Bunker capable of resisting explosions up to about 5,000 pounds of explosives. During the bombing of the palace on April 8 1975 the president’s whole family took refuge here.A visit to the War Remnants Museum was not on our guides agenda but because the Viet Nam War had such an impact on Sandy’s life we asked him to include it.The caption in the photo above quoting Robert S McNamara, former US Secretary of State says it all about our involvement in Vietnam. WE WERE WRONG…. The Museum consists of 4 rooms dealing with separate segments of the war. The first room dealt with War correspondents. We had no idea that so many of them died covering their assignments. The story of this one brave “ahead of herself” woman photojournalist is amazing. Her name is Dickey Chapelle and she covered 7 wars in 30 years beginning with World War II and including the Korean and Vietnam Wars. She was born March 14, 1919 (also Sandy’s birthdate day not year). As she was covering the Vietnam War on November 4, 1965 at the age of 46 she was hit in the neck by a piece of shrapnel that severed her carotid artery. She was given a full Marine burial with an honor guard consisting of six Marines. In this photo she is being administered the last rites by John Monamara a U.S. Marine Corps chaplain who is from Boston, Mass. The camera of this Photojournalist saved his life as it blocked a bullet aimed for his head. See details below.The second room of the museum dealt with photos of soldiers engaged in combat during the Vietnam War. Jim was overwhelmed emotionally and near tears after viewing and reading the information and had to leave halfway through the exhibit so he waited outside for Sandy.Henry Huet was the photographer. Most of these photos with captions of explanation below were from the years that Sandy’s first husband was there which was for a 13 month period mostly spent in 1968 around the DMZ during the Tet Offensive. In 1968, a total of 16,899 U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam. This year was the deadliest for U.S. forces during the entire Vietnam War, representing nearly 30% of the total American deaths in conflict.Robert Ellison was the photojournalist who took this picture.The following two pictures start with the name of the photojournalist that took the image.The third room of the museum was photos and information about the atrocities that occurred during the Vietnam War. Sandy could not bring herself to go into that room. The above photo makes a very powerful statement of accusing the U.S. government of being guilty of Genocide by way of what they did to innocent Vietnamese civilians as well as the prisoners of war. In all fairness and support of the Vietnam Veterans most of them did not ask to be there and were very young. They were drafted into brutal combat conditions in a very foreign country and saw friends/comrades die in front of their eyes. All the while when they were there war protests were going on in their beloved homeland with American flags being burned. Then as an extra insult when their tour of duty ended they came home to the country of people that they risked their lives for and unlike the WW II soldiers they were not considered as heroes but they were met by some with scorn and hostility. They were left not with honor but with PTSD that affected their lives significantly.The last room of the museum dealt with Agent Orange that is a highly toxic chemical (dioxin) herbicide and defoliant used during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Its purpose was the desertification of the tropical rain forest in order to disenable the VC army to hide in the foliage and ambush their enemies. However dioxin is a primary carcinogen and also causes severe birth defects. The above photo gives some shocking info about the effects it has had on those exposed to it. The letter below (please enlarge to read) is a very sad plea to President Obama. As a result of her plea and those of Vietnam vets President Obama began the initiative to compensate for the needs of those affected both in the U.S. and Vietnam.A powerful and sad victim reached out to President Obama in this letter. We are still trying to atone 50 years later. A victim of Agent Orange.
It amazes us that we should be in this country now exactly 50 years after the Vietnam War ended. On April 30 the Vietnamese will celebrate the reunification of North and South Vietnam. They now live in peace together after so many years in war with each other. Sandy never in her wildest dreams ever thought she would step foot on this land where people dear to her lost blood, sweat, tears and many their lives. One friend never even got to see his precious daughter who was born after he died. His death is listed as Dec 20 1968 at the age of 24. He was a Marine Corp Aircraft pilot and is still listed as MIA. We learned that Vietnam and the U.S. are still actively involved in the search for American MIAs in Vietnam. There were a total of 1,973 MIAs, 729 have been repatriated and identified leaving 1,241 remaining. Because of this we feel we are truly on sacred ground
In conclusion we would like to pay our deepest respect and homage to all those who made it back from Vietnam and will forever hold dear in our memories those who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for ours. We will never forget. SEMPER FI
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