Vietnam Retrospective

Now that I'm back home, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my experiences over the Vietnam/Cambodia school trip that I participated in for the last two weeks. 

Martin and I wrote two blog posts during the trip that you can see here: https://polygipvietnamcambodia.blogspot.com/2019/. However, I feel a lot of what I could have said was not on the blog posts because of the time constraints (We could only write for a small portion of the time) and now that I've had a chance to reflect on the trip, I have more insight to contribute concerning our adventures in Vietnam and Cambodia. I'd like to be as honest as possible with what I say, so apologies if I sound overly negative about an experience. 

Without further delay, I'd like to first talk a bit about Vietnam and my experience there. 

Upon first stepping outside the Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon airport, I was immediately greeted with intense heat and humidity, which would be the norm for virtually the entire trip (except for the fairly infrequent rainy periods). On the bus to our hotel, there were also some things that stood out to me, namely, the traffic, and biker culture. One of the first things that I distinctly remember driving out from the airport was the grouping of bikers into groups along walls trying to get some sleep. Nearly all of them were wearing green jackets, which I would later find out are for a motorbike rental service. This reflection of Vietnam's economic state would be echoed in the environment around me. Many of the buildings were run-down, vandalized, or modest until we arrived near the city center, where large malls and skyscrapers were everywhere to be found. Economic inequality would continue to be a theme throughout our visit to Vietnam and Cambodia. 

This is the view from our hotel. You can see that directly next to Sun Way Tower, there's a run down McDonalds right next to it, accompanied with some other less well-maintained buildings. It was baffling to me that a street separating two buildings could create such a contrast between rich and poor. 

The most memorable part of the first day for me (while haggling at a Vietnamese market was certainly fun) was the War Remnants Museum.

The War Remnants Museum was truly an unforgettable experience that portrayed the horrors of the Vietnam War and its echoes throughout modern history, as well as highlighted aspects of the war that aren't as discussed today or in general. 

Despite the covering of the Vietnam War and the discussion of politics surrounding the war in my history class this year, I was unprepared for what would be shown in the museum. In general, while some pictures and discussion of the more powerful actors behind the Vietnam War were present in the museum, the exhibitions were primarily intended to document the war on a personal scale. The images shown were unfiltered and graphic, and painted a picture of a grisly war that would not be soon forgotten for the perpetrators and victims alike. At the museum, the pictures captured the sense of despair felt by soldiers and civilians, and exhibits contained the weapons that soldiers used to exact violence, including high-powered firearms and tanks outside of the building.



Since the Vietnam War is infamous for having a high civilian toll, the aspect of violence against Vietnamese civilians is certainly there. One exhibit that showed violence against civilians in a horrible light was a well that was moved to the museum, previously used by children to hide from American soldiers before their ultimate discovery and killing by American hands. 

The exhibit on Agent Orange was perhaps one of the hardest things to face the whole duration of the trip. This exhibit, in particular, focused on the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical initially intended as a defoliant, and its creation of birth defects among Vietnamese and American alike. Since Agent Orange is now known as one of the teratogens with the greatest human impact, I can't help but think about it in terms of thalidomide, another teratogen that caused human suffering unintentionally among newborns. Neither substance acted in the way it should. Agent Orange was supposed to be a defoliant, a chemical that would reduce tree cover to make it easier for soldiers to spot their enemies in the distance, but lingered in the environment and caused birth defects in mothers who were exposed. Martin Luther King references thalidomide in his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail",

"...It has been a tranquilizing Thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration." 

Thalidomide works how MLK describes: it was used as an over-the-counter sedative but caused severe birth defects in the form of limb shortening or complete limb omission. While these substances differed in their usage, they both had devastating side effects because of a lack of understanding of the underlying compounds. As different and radical types of warfare become in vogue, we must always keep in mind the consequences of our actions past the timespan of the war itself, but decades into the future, and have sympathy for the civilians who should ideally have no role in the conflict.

The museum also covered the Vietnam War from the perspective of war journalists, which I found to be particularly impactful. Not only is the viewpoint and the struggle of war journalists documented in detail, but also, the dilemma of the journalist in a place like war is brought to light. When confronted with a preventable human crisis, the journalist is faced with the pain of not being able to act due to the nature of a war journalist, in that they are not supposed to interfere with the war itself. Even worse is the pain of documenting killing or tragedy while completely helpless to do anything about it. While the exhibits on journalism were not something I expected going into the museum, I ended up having these exhibits be one of my most important takeaways.

On the brighter side, our group was able to visit Broward College the next day and talk to the college students there. I personally felt that while this was an important experience, the visit could have been improved by either more correspondence beforehand or more time to talk with the students during our visit to Broward College. After the visit, I came out without knowing much about my student and what they wanted to do, which I feel could have been built into the day's program instead of 2 hours of pure activities. 

The 3rd day's visit to Trang Bang and Cu Chi was also quite impactful. Our group was able to see the Cu Chi Tunnels firsthand and learn about the lifestyle of a Vietnamese soldier during the war.

I remember a comment from one of our group members expressing their insight into the broken psyches of American soldiers coming back from the Vietnamese jungle. It's easy to see how this could have taken place. It was something to the effect of "No wonder so many soldiers were traumatized here!" Observing the environment, I could also understand how this environment could be so foreboding for an American soldier. The jungle around us in the Cu Chi Tunnels obscured our vision, there were locations where Vietnamese soldiers could attack without warning or escape unnoticed, and crude traps well hidden under the cover of leaves that could maim at one false step.

A trap design used during the war, one of many displayed at the site.

A location where soldiers could access the underground base, completely hidden by leaves. I was surprised by the ease of entry and undetectability of the entryway.

The plight of soldiers in war seems a topic so far from civilians, but going to the Cu Chi Tunnels certainly gave me (and I hope others in our group) more insight into the details of how villagers waged war during Vietnam.

Not related to particular events, I wanted to also discuss some things that were said outside of the major visits that I thought were interesting.

Our chaperone Dr. Nguyen, who immigrated to the US from Vietnam when he was a teenager, had some insight into the state of Vietnam today. He compared the Vietnam he knew to something more like present Cambodia, a more rural and less developed country than what it now is. He also said Cambodia is like a version of Vietnam 10-15 years in the past in terms of overall economic development, which I'd agree with.

From my perspective as a Chinese American, I found some interesting connections between Chinese and Vietnamese culture, including Caodaism, a religion that's essentially a fusion of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. It was fascinating to see cultural parallels between Vietnamese society and Chinese society in that Vietnam, Confucian ideals are still very alive today despite modernization of the country.