Vietnam

So much history-so little time.  When I first learned part of trip would include 4 days in Vietnam I was very excited.  Matt is a huge history buff, and I’m a huge military buff, making this a perfect stop.      Man the tables flipped so fast.  Our very first stop was a museum full of information on the war Vietnam had against the USA.  (Yes they worded it that way) I couldn’t believe my eyes-is it possible ‘we’ did the things they claim?  Never have we heard this side of the story.  I spent about 20 minutes in there before I was overwhelmed and left.       So many countries wanted us to stop fighting and leave Vietnam-why did we stay?  If we were the good guys why do they distrust us even to this day? Our guide had to go against the wishes of his family to give us the tour!  He explained to us that he was giving the tour because we WERE Americans and needed to hear this side of the story.      When the USA left Vietnam the entire country was flat.  No power, no running water, no medical, no drinking water (Agent Orange had been dumped into all the canals and water ways). People were living in underground tunnels because they feared someone seeing them.
**For those family and friends that fought in this war-I am not judging you-just trying to understand**
 
    Now comes the good news! 40 years later the country has been voted number 1 for GDP growth! They have gone from communist to socialist- and are beginning to push away from socialist rules. Construction, and road work is everywhere. Although government housing still is a big part of their lives some are doing well enough to move into private homes. (Although socialist law says they must return their home to the government after 40 years of living there) I felt very excited to see how this country will continue it’s growth.  
    Even with all the history the biggest story of the weekend was the motorcycles and scooters.  There are millions of them!  The people use them for everything.  They might need to get one person to work, or 5 people to church, or even bring a new washing machine home, on the back of one bike!  Our guide explained to us that the people are so tired of being ruled that they ignore almost all traffic laws.  It was true, if the street was busy they drove on the side walk, if one lane was full they would go against traffic on the other side.  A few wore helmets but not many.       Every corner, every spot had a bike.  It was more dangerous to walk then to ride.  It has become a bit of a fascination for me. No doubt many of my pictures will be about the bikes. 
    Vietnam has been and will always remain a controversial subject in US military history.  There were many veterans on our trip with us and many had fantastic stories of heroism and hardships. Weather you believe the US had a role to fight in the Vietnamese civil war or not (they now refer to it as the American war) you have to admit it didn’t end well. To a man, each veteran we spoke to differed in there opinions of the war, but not one of them were happy to have ever been there in the first place. All seemed to be in awe of the “progress” the people have made in 40 years from the closed door policy of the communists in the 70’s & 80’s to today. We a pray that the people of Vietnam continue on there current path of openness and can continue peaceful relations with the world.
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