Building Memories (BM) uses personal experiences and relates them to topics of importance to building.
This BM explores out trip to Vietnam.
Growing up, the Vietnam war was an everyday experience. When my older brothers reached 18 in 1969 and 1971, watching the selection process of the lottery process when often, a pretty woman would select a month, a corresponding number for the day of the month, and a number from 1 to 365 which represented your draft position. Your birthdate combined with a draft number under 100, determined if you were going to be a soldier fighting in Vietnam within the next year. I was lucky and my birth date was one of the last months that had to sign up for the draft. In fact, the war ended four months after I turned 18 in 1975.
In 2017 my wife, Lisa and I went on a two-week bike trip throughout Vietnam. Although I did not serve in the military, the images of Vietnam were still burned into my memory. Biking through the countryside, and jungle areas, was beautiful, which conflicted with my memory which had always associated these images with war violence, napalm, bombing and killing. Yet, in 2017 it was not only beautiful scenery, but everyone we met, young or old, was amazingly friendly and helpful. I had heard this from many friends who visited earlier but still had difficulty reconciling my memories with my day-to-day trip experience.
An interesting aspect of the trip was our two guides. One was in his late 30’s and had grown up near Hanoi in what was formerly the capital of North Vietnam (Blue shirt). The other was in his early 20’s and had grown up outside of Ho Chi Min City, formerly Saigon, and the former capital of South Vietnam (Green shirt). I do not remember their names, but they had completely different life experiences. The older guide grew up in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when Viet Nam suffered from severe food shortages, and a political environment in which the communist government held extremely strict control of most aspects of life. Especially for people growing up in the Hanoi area. The younger one grew up in the early 2000’s and was a capitalist through and through. He had multiple money-making hustles, with the goal that one of them would hit it big and bring him financial security. They spent much of their down time together, trying to bring their two life experiences together in a way that would allow them to understand and trust each other.
The trip was memorable in so many ways. The older monumental architecture was beautiful, intricate, and ornate. The scenery evoked both the historical memories mentioned above, but also the beauty and serenity of the countryside, and the amazingly energetic and futuristic vision evolving in Hi Chi Mihn City. Visiting the war memorials in Cu Chi in the Mekong Delta, going through the tunnels of the Viet Cong. Listening to our docent (who was a former Viet Cong guerilla) who lived in these same tunnels for upwards of 10 years. Which is crazy, because they had enlarged the tunnels a bit for American tourists like me, and in many places my shoulders still hit the sides as we crouched and crawled our way through them. An enemy with that determination and discipline is hard to defeat. Captured American military equipment, the American embassy, where the last helicopters picked up the last Americans leaving Saigon in 1975 also brought back vivid memories.
One day we met a group of schoolchildren, and a hardworking woman making rice paper. Without exception they were all helpful and gracious. They did not seem to hold any animus toward Americans. Even more remarkable considering the anger that permeates today’s politics.
The Hanoi Hilton was another memorable visit. The prison primarily held aviators shot down and captured. Senator John McCain was a memorable prisoner who was held from October 25, 1967, through March 14, 1073. The setting of this prison and the tunnels scattered though out Cu Chi and the areas of engagement between American and North Vietnamese troops were sources of nightmares during my high school years. I was happy that this trip allowed me to replace those harsh memories of my youth with positive new experiences of the country and people of Vietnam.
Photo 1-Bike Guides_Lisa Steve_20171228
Photo 2-Cu Chi Tunnels
Photo 3-Draft Lottery_1969
Photo 4-Architecture
Photo 5-Hanoi Hilton
Photo 6-Architecture
Photo 7-Cu Chi Tunnels
Photo 8-School girls
Photo 9-American Embassy
Photo 10-American Tank