Reflections on the Vietnam War

Today we visited the Cu Chi tunnels--the elaborate underground system (hundreds of miles) used by the Viet Cong in their guerrilla warfare against the US troops. Allan crawled about 40 meters through one of the tunnels and attested to how cramped and pitch dark it was. We later went to their War Museum containing thousands of pictures of the Vietnam War. It was very disconcerting to watch their 1976 propaganda film and read their displays about the evil US destroying their country and its people. I thought back to my high school days and some of my peers who fought and died in Vietnam. Looking at the displays, I found it difficult to feel any sympathy toward the Vietnamese who captured and tortured Americans and vilified the US in their efforts to fight Communist control of their country. Thankfully, today the Vietnamese people welcome Americans and admire their efforts in fighting for human rights.