My conclusion to the Vietnam War
Vietnam had undergone many wars over thousands of years for its independence from foreign rulings. It was reigned by China for a thousand years. The French dominated Vietnam for one hundred years.
There was an old Vietnamese song I listened to when I was little. It portrayed the life and turmoil of Vietnamese heritage and war. The song was called “Gia Tài của Mẹ” which meant a Mother’s Heritage. It was written by Trịnh Công Sơn. This song has lingered in my head since I was ten. It reminds me of who I am and where I come from.
Vietnam war was a complicated and long war with many twists, turns, and turmoils. On top of the fighting for freedom from other countries’ domination, the Vietnamese people were having internal conflicts within themselves.
It was a challenge to decipher which Vietnamese was on the American side and which Vietnamese was on the communist side. There were so many communist spies infiltrating the countryside, the cities, and the higher rank officials in the Southern Vietnamese troops. It would be a challenge to filter out the communist without killing all the innocent people at the same time.
The war may have started with the best intention of achieving freedom and independence from foreign ruling. However, we may have allowed foreign power influences our perspectives and lose track of our own initial intent.
Perhaps, in the end, pride, deception, betrayal, and/or power corrupt our hearts and blind our perspectives from right and wrong.
I can see the confusion and internal conflict among the Vietnamese people including me. We tend to turn toward the side that will best serve us or protect the people we love at that moment. There was not a clear cut of a right or wrong answer. There was only survival.
In 1978, my family made a decision to leave Vietnam for our own survival. It was the right choice at that time. Whether it was right or wrong, who was I to judge? I learned to accept and embrace the past and move forward.
Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave comments below. Visit again next week for the delivery of the next chapter.
Resources:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/737/38136
http://www.marxist.com/vietnam/tet-offensive-part-one.htm
http://www.marxist.com/vietnam/tet-offensive-offensive-part-two.htm
en.wikipedia.org
