Today, we started our day early at UEF learning about Buddhism. They posed one main question that we had to discuss: Was Buddhism more of a religion or a philosophy? My group leaned more toward philosophy because there is not a specific god that Buddhists worship. Rather, it is more of a way of life that they follow. They live each day according to certain principles, such as resisting evil, performing good actions, and more.

Visiting the Ngoc Hoang Pagoda was very cool. The artwork throughout the temple was fascinating. It was very peaceful, with people constantly coming in and out to pray. I learned that each room is designated for different types of prayers. For example, one room is where you pray for luck, while another is where you pray for love. There were several different rooms in total.

After the temple, we went to the Reunification Palace, which was similar to their White House during the war. What was especially interesting was learning about a Vietnamese man who had lived in the U.S. He worked for the U.S. government, but he was secretly a spy. He would give Vietnam plans and coordinates from the U.S., and he eventually became one of the soldiers who bombed the palace during the war.

We then moved on to the biggest part of the day: the War Museum. I thought I was going to learn a few fascinating things, but it was much more depressing than I expected. There were many documents showing terrible actions committed by U.S. soldiers, things that have been more hidden in the U.S. It was shocking to read about and understand what was happening in Vietnam at the time. The documents really showed how fighting in wars can psychologically change the way people think. I still do not understand how so many soldiers were able to kill and torture innocent citizens.

When I learned about the Vietnam War, or what is also called the American War, in school, I feel like we were mostly taught the perspective that American soldiers were suffering from ambushes and brutal traps. We also learned the basic information about the war. However, we were never really taught about the things Americans did to Vietnamese people. Many innocent people, including children, were killed. I found it very intriguing to gain a different and more truthful perspective on a war that I once thought was simple.

I feel like more people should visit museums like this to truly understand the terrible effects of war. The more knowledge people have about the realities of war, the less likely it may be for wars to break out around the world.