Content alert: There are graphic photos and descriptions in the post below. However, it’s important to us that any readers get a glimpse of what we experienced today.
We awoke feeling refreshed after a great night of sleep and a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Being the
first full day in Vietnam we were eager learn more about this country, which is so commonly associated
with war in the United States. True to form, we started our morning early, boarded our bus and visited the War Remnants Museum in central Ho Chi Minh City, which opened in 1975. The museum’s mission and purpose is to conserve and display exhibits on war crimes and consequences inflicted on the Vietnamese people by foreign aggressive forces.
After passing-by various U.S. army aircraft and artillery machinery, we entered the indoor exhibits for our tour. We met Nghia, our local guide, who walked us through the timeline of the 2nd Indochina War, commonly referred to as the Vietnam War. While much has been recorded about various American perspectives of this war, it was very interesting to hear the Vietnamese perspective. Exhibits depicting war atrocities on civilians and chemical warfare were especially eye opening and almost too much to take in. It is natural to think of the deadly impact of the war on North Vietnamese soldiers, but if you look beneath the surface, you see the incredibly tragic impact on wives and children as well. The tactical herbicide commonly referred to as “Agent Orange” affects families for up to five generations. We saw pictures of contemporary children who are living with the very real effects of this chemical weapon even today. It was horrifying, truly. What we saw defies description. None of us are sure such exhibits would fly in the United States based on their unsanitized depictions of reality. It makes a person wonder- how do we really honor the complicated experiences of other people? Is there value in continually seeking the messiness of what has happened in times like this war? Or should we just button it all up so we can have tidy conclusions? Who does that serve? We will continue to wrestle with this spectral way of thinking.
We then headed northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, often following the Saigon River, to the countryside to
meet a female business owner, My Nhung, who is a local farmer of rubber trees and, of all things, worms!
Upon arrival at the farm, we were met with rows of rubber trees that were being milked and long beds
of worms creating compost. The worm farm creates a new crop of earthworms roughly every 20 days
and the rubber trees can be milked weekly. The farmer lives on the property and she explained the
process of caring for these worms which she sells for feed primarily in aquaculture. Class 53 was
especially interested in how it works to farm in a Communist country where the government retains all land rights. She explained how the rubber trees are on a 50-year lease and how she also has an
agreement which allows her to operate 26 rows of worm beds. In this example of multi-cropping, the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam collects two leases on the same land. She went on to explain that these
subterranean creatures can be profitable, but it is work that is all performed by hand. The rubber trees
are planted in straight rows on berms and can be harvested for their milk after three years in the
ground. The extraction happens in the early morning hours (between 1-2am) and is done by peeling off
the bark and cutting a spiral path on the trunk to direct the milk down to a bowl akin to a tree sap
harvesting situation. Our hostess graciously invited us to her home and offered us fresh coconuts as a
delicious treat to wrap up our visit.
Back on the bus, after a delicious lunch stop at Ben Nay restaurant, perched on an island in the Saigon
River, we made our way to the Cu Chi Tunnel complex. This underground labyrinth of tunnels provided
respite for guerrilla fighters and their families during attacks from U.S. forces. Cu Chi’s strategic location
just upriver from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and not far from the end of the Ho Chi Minh trail
proved it to be an area of emphasis between three U.S. military bases in the region. This tunnel system
was all hand-dug over a period of 20 years and now includes 250 kilometers (approximately 155 miles)
of tunnels, which are about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. We saw the purpose-built structures which
contained hidden entrances, disguised ventilation tubes and numerous booby traps. It was this
elaborate tunnel system that allowed the guerrilla fighters to pop up out of nowhere and ambush U.S. forces. The ground above was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, but the people which called this
area home went underground and endured. Their impressive creation has been preserved in a visitor
complex. The reforestation of the area after the “Agent Orange” chemical was used is still being worked
on today.
Class 53 had the opportunity to crawl amongst the tunnels for a short period of time and all
agreed it would be a challenging environment to live in for an extended period but recognized the
ingenuity that went into the creation of this intricate system of underground protection. Here’s where it gets tricky though: this same caused a lot of loss of American life. There’s a chapter in our collective story that includes these very tunnels and the overwhelming need to survive. It’s causing us to recognize that not everything is binary- good or bad, right or wrong, evil or virtuous. Some things are, certainly, but not everything. The tunnels and the sights we saw at the museum are proof of that.
We ended the evening with a group dinner and time to process the day’s heavy experiences. We were met with heat, incredibly high humidity levels (imagine every pore being met with damp rapport) and an influx of knowledge and perspective that we could not have appropriately mentally prepared for, prior to going on this journey. We are grateful for this deeper understanding and the incredible assistance and openness of our local guide, JD, as well. Tomorrow begins a new day and the excitement of what is left to unfold! Class 53 is grateful to have experienced such a spectrum of emotions on our first full day in Vietnam and look forward to tomorrow’s journey to Cambodia.
Gratefully,
Nick, Katie, Bryce and the members of Class 53
2 Responses
29 years ago, Class 24 was in Cambodia and Vietnam for their international trip. I am really enjoying your comments about what you are seeing and learning. It’s always been a dream to return back to the two countries years later and note the changes. Learned so much and loved every minute of it. Enjoy!
This was fascinating. I can only imagine your reactions to what you saw and learned. Thank you for sharing.