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Footnotes 2005-06 footnotes¹ 2005-2006 Vol. 23 Tee-Shirts and Zippo Lighters: A Lone Traveler’s Recollections about Vietnam by Charles Blackmar to be greeted by a wall of intense humidity, Vietnam, communism – in its current state, I have been in love with Vietnam. Although from which allows elements of free market I came to Vietnam expecting to find an outsider, I felt embraced by the amazing capitalism – has provided stability and a war. Instead I found an amazing country people of Vietnam. In the rural village of My prosperity. By the time Vietnam’s war with overflowing with a fascinating culture and Son, I was treated like a king. My host, an Cambodia ended in 1990, the country had rich society. Before visiting Vietnam, my elderly Viet Cong soldier, refused to accept been at war for over 50 years. Vietnamese knowledge of the country was scholarly. I any compensation other than insisting I communism has provided the country with have studied the Vietnam War in excess. In drink green tea and snake wine with him. stability, allowing its economy to take off. the History Department I have a reputation Snake wine, considered a delicacy, is a In the last decade, Vietnam has become as “that Vietnam kid.” Half of the books at bitter drink that stings the back of the throat a regional power. Although its people do my house are devoted to the Vietnam War. and burns in one’s belly. I found it to be not enjoy the same standard of living we My locker in the library appears to house an acquired taste, but my host slugged it have in America, they are clothed, fed, half of Watzek’s holdings on the topic. I back like there was no tomorrow. In My and comfortable. In Vietnam, communism just wrote a thesis regarding the impact the Son, the villagers were surprised to see an has provided stability, and stability has led Truman Administration had on Indochina American take an interest in their country. to prosperity. One day the country may policy. Regardless, I digress. outgrow communism and demand My point is that despite my truly open, capitalist market places, knowledge of Vietnamese history, but in the here and now, the I ultimately knew very little about supposed great red evil is working. the country before traveling to it. During my time in Vietnam It is one thing to I traveled throughout the entire study a country’s history. It is country. I covered over 2000 miles, entirely another to live there and all of it overland, traveling south experience its culture and its from Hanoi all the way down to the people. This piece represents my Mekong Delta. Traveling overland personal apex of procrastination. allowed me to spend time in rural Since I visited Vietnam for all of villages, walking through rice July, I have attempted multiple paddies and staring into the lush times to put my thoughts regarding vegetation that I had previously that experience down on paper. only understood in the context of For one reason or another, this war. I stroked the backs of baby has failed each time. I attempted water buffalo. I walked along the to compile a scholarly comparison of my When I purchased village products like well traveled streets of Hanoi and Saigon view regarding Vietnam pre and post visit. scarves and bracelets, the villagers passing shops selling lighters and tee- From a methodological standpoint, this were pleased not because I was giving shirts and dodging speeding motorbikes was the wrong approach. My experiences them money but because I had traveled as they zigzagged through the streets and recollections of Vietnam are far too such a long way to stay in their village. and occasionally hit me. When I needed personal and emotionally charged to By American standards, the to get somewhere in a hurry, I would jump achieve the kind of objectivity scholarly majority of Vietnamese people live in on the back of a motorbike and hang writing necessitates. Instead, what follows poverty; yet they are kind, generous, and on for dear life as my driver engaged in are my personal, emotional thoughts and most importantly happy. Rural villagers are a real time game of Frogger. At night, recollections regarding Vietnam. As such forced to toil long hours in race paddies I dined at local street kitchens eating there will be no citations, references, or facing intense weather that alternates amazing meals for less than a dollar. footnotes. Historical references, arguments, between blistering sun and intense rain. Although my experiences and theory would only detract from my They do this without complaint. In fact, it’s were amazing, at times they were also experiences. This piece is not intended to quite the opposite; the majority can be seen quite somber as I witnessed the intense be a work of academic research; instead with smiles on their faces. In my opinion, devastation and destruction wrought by it should be read as the recollections much of this can be traced to a very the war. Not all of Vietnam is beautiful; and perceptions of a lone traveler. counterintuitive origin – communism works although the country has moved beyond During my time at LC, I have in Vietnam. Writing those words makes war, if one looks close enough its signs are studied in Africa and interned in Australia, me feel like a heretic. As a scholar of the still visible throughout the country. At the yet I identify my overseas experience as Cold War, I have always been led to believe former demilitarized zone that once divided having taken place in Vietnam. From the that communism is a corrupt, inefficient North from South, the area is scattered moment I stepped off my plane in Saigon system that destroys nations. However, in Continued on page continued from page 1 paddy fields that feed the nation. Taking a towers over the entire town and provides a with hollowed out bomb craters that have boat down the river is just like driving on a obvious navigation landmark for confused removed any signs of vegetation and life major highway. The river is bustling with travelers. Prior to visiting Vietnam, I was from the land. On the outskirts of Hanoi, ships of all shapes and sizes transporting well aware that Ho was an important I visited a shop where children with Agent people and products. One morning when figure, but I failed to grasp just how much Orange deformities made simple arts and I became thirsty, I hailed a nearby boat he meant to the country. His image is crafts to pay for their medical bills. Outside, selling drinks and fresh fruit and purchased visibly on thousands of tacky tee-shirts older beggars, their faces mangled by my morning breakfast while traveling and Zippo lighters that venders pedal the terrible chemical, asked for money. I further down stream. Along the Mekong, to western travels. However, the man gaped in horror when a beggar with one houses are built right up to the river’s edge. means so much more to the country. To arm and a hideously deformed face asked Villagers use the river as a backyard, and this day, the Vietnamese still refer to him me for money. I felt mortified as I dumbly children are frequently seen waving to the as Great Uncle Ho and he is worshiped stared forward, horrified by – yet fixated on passing boats. There are even floating as a saint. Throughout the country, – the man’s deformities. I gave him a few villages in the middle of the river. These signs and statues display his legacy notes of Vietnamese Dong and hurriedly consist of floating fishing communities that which is analogous to a national religion. moved on ashamed at both the lack of have the ability to pack up and move the Evidence of my trip to Vietnam respect I had showed the man and my entire village up or downstream depending is visible around my house. My room is own immaturity. In Saigon I stopped off on the time of year. I stopped off at one plastered with photos from my vist and at the intersection where Buddhist Monks village for tea. At one point, my host contains a Vietnamese flag, communist had set fire to themselves to protest the opened the floor to his living room and propaganda poster, and, of course, repressive South Vietnamese government. began tossing buckets of fish food into the several tacky Ho Chi Minh lighters and The intersection’s sidewalk is marked river to feed the thousands of catfish that tee-shirts. However, there is so much more with a simple monument dedicated to all lived in nets under his house. Smelling the to my time in Vietnam than the souvenirs the monks who lost their lives. As Honda food, the fish flapped around as if they were and novelty items I brought home. motorbikes flew past me, I was overcome having a seizure and created a overflow of Traveling through Vietnam was with awe to be standing at the sight of one water equivalent to one of the afternoon the most amazing experience of my life. the most powerful protests in human history. rain showers I constantly monitored I visited the country central to my college I also spent time at the imperial citadel the sky for waiting for it to inevitably studies and came to understand that there in Hue where bullet holes and shattered come out of no where and soak me. is so much more to it than just a war. walls from the Tet Offensive are a visible At the end of my time in Mekong, Vietnam has an incredibly rich culture and reminder of the devastation the country I spent several days in the Village of society and I feel honored to have been went through in order to gain independence.
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