First thing in the morning today we headed to the Saigon Newport Corporation (SNP) shipyard, located just outside of HCMC on the banks of the Nhà Bè River. I wasn't very interested in the workings of the shipyard, but it was interesting to hear our hosts views of the TPP and the rising tensions between Vietnam and China. The huge cranes that move the cargo crates around amaze me. They're just huge hunks of metal that move fluidly and constantly. Also I was completely exhausted... I'm going to sleep for like 15 hours straight when I get back. Sleep has been kind of a low priority here, there's just so much fun stuff to do!
For the first time, we had lunch at the hotel and it was great. I avoided the insects, I wasn't feeling quite adventurous to try them and no one gave rave reviews. However, I had so many spring rolls... they were so delicious and reminded me of my mom a lot (she loves them). I did try the snail, but it was quite bland. Kind of put myself in a food coma. Napped. It was wondrous.
The group spent the afternoon at the War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the [1975] Exhibition House of US and Puppet Crimes and [1990] Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression). Wow. What can I say. A follow up to the Cu Chi tunnels, it was a hard thing to experience. The courtyard is filled with US military tanks, missile launchers, helicopters, and planes captured during the war. On a side note, weapons are an insane feat of engineering--the descriptions of those machines (way out of date now) were bone-chilling when I realized how much havoc the could and did wreak). The first floor was full of anti-Vietnam War propaganda from other communist nations from the 60s. There was also some accompanying information about the defeat of the French prior to the American invasion/involvement (however you want to characterize it).
The second floor was by far the toughest exhibition to stomach. The first room covered the general damage done by bombs, etc. and the photographers who lost their lives trying to communicate what was occurring, good and bad. The second exhibit displayed the horrors of napalm and agent orange. It was horrific and I hated being there, but I forced myself to look at the terribly disfigured bodies and lives on the walls... I was comparing it to the Holocaust with one of my friends, but that it is so easy to blame and hate someone else (the Nazis). When I know that it was American soldiers performing these horrific acts (torture, massacre, etc.), it makes me sick. The capture of treatment of American POW's was notable absent. It is such a testament to the Vietnamese people that they do not hold an unforgettable grudge against the American people--how can hate NOT stem from such careless slaughtering of their country and countrymen? Their forgiveness is so overwhelming.
I leave you with a poem written by an American photographer whose helicopter was shot down near Da Nang, Vietnam, while he was documenting the war:
On the Side That's Winning
The moon hangs like a tear
And I, sensing immortality
But afraid of tomorrow, rush to greet it
Afraid to die
And keep running,
Afraid to realize it may be hopeless
To carry tears on my sleeve
While right behind me, in cloak and gown
The man's juggling bombs
Like a circus clown
...Though the bells toll
They can bomb the land
But not my soul.
-- Oliver Noonan (1939-1969)
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