Today has been my favorite day so far. I kept to myself a lot more because I was trying to process everything I saw. We had an early start and took the bus out to the countryside and stopped at the Net Viet Handicapped Handicrafts. This was an amazing visit. We were given an introduction to the art making process that is done by the handicapped victims of Agent Orange. Agent Orange is something I have heard much about previously, but personally seeing the effects was heartbreaking. I am a big history/war movie buff and also listen to all the oldies songs from the 70’s era. Anyways, we were able to sit with the workers and try it out for ourselves, but most of the UEF and Pitt students went into the shop. I sat with a man who had bent legs and couldn’t walk. He also couldn’t speak English. He had an infectious smile and let me paint quite a bit. I just simply sat there for maybe 15 minutes with him and painted the red shoes on the paintings. I thought I would just do a little bit, but he kept smiling and giving me more to do. It started to become hard not to get emotional. It was my country’s fault he was like this and it is not like this has only happened in Vietnam where people are devastated long after the war. Despite this his heart was genuinely kind to me. I loved the experience so much. I also ended up going to the shop and getting some stuff, but made sure to say goodbye and receive another beeming smile.
After this we got on the bus to head over to Cu Chi. My face was glued to the window the entire time there and back. Travelling is such an amazing privilege, and I love proving stereotypes wrong. Being able to travel and see how others truly live vs portrayals in media is so important, I think. My blog title is Fortunate Son. The song was written in response to the American public’s disproval of the War in Vietnam. Fortunate sons were those that could avoid the draft at the time. “Some folks are born silver spoon in hand..” It was a song that protested the war and many drafted men were from poor rural parts of the US. Now I am the fortunate son, because I am able to visit Vietnam and experience the hospitality of the Vietnamese and visit it in peace. I noticed a white dove on many posters. There was one above the tunnel arch walking out of the shooting range, more on that in a bit.
The Cu Chi tunnels were just as eye-opening as the Handicapped Handicrafts factory. Going through the tunnels was fun, but imaging being in there during wartime seemed like a hellish experience especially with the heat. Even though shooting the gun was fun, imaging dozens of them ringing through the jungle would be traumatizing. When we were at the shooting range which at first, I was excited for, the jolly mood ended for me when the first gun went off. It was so loud and it made me jump.
My dad flew the same helicopter we saw there on display, but he flew it in Iraq. He never has mentioned anything about his time in Iraq and I don’t blame. The Cu Chi tour was like I said, eye-opening. Like I said I kept to myself and was deep in thought and looking around attentively the whole time. I asked the tour guide if the large whole was a bomb crater and he said yes. There were dozens of them that I saw from then on out. I was mind blown. No pun intended. They weren’t put there for show they were real. Seeing how the Viet Cong adapted to the American invasion was something I won’t forget. The people of Cu Chi were prime examples of what freedom is worth. I hope one day to be able to visit Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran because I believe that the people there can be just as kind and I hope more can share my memories of today.
