Some Random Facts & Thoughts on Vietnam

 I (Joanne) found Vietnam to be surreal. It brought back memories of the War. -I remember throughout high school, there were daily stories on TV giving the grim war statistics and fatalities of the day.  There was a lot of anti-war sentiment, demonstrations, and wonderment of whether this conflict was one that we should be involved in: Should we stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia?  Would there be a domino effect of nations being toppled by Communism?  I was dating my future husband, Bob, at the time who was in a Photographic Army Unit.  For 2 years he kept getting orders to be ready to ship out.  Then the orders were cancelled.  It was nerve wracking!  He was scared and talked about fleeing to Canada.  I didn't know what to think. I believe Bob would have gone over there, but his enlistment time of 3 years ran out and he was discharged on the day his unit finally shipped out!  Ross Applegate, who grew up in my neighborhood, was killed as his plane landed in Vietnam.  Barry Mangels, our friend's boyfriend and later husband, came back talking of terrible stories of torture of the Viet Cong.  I think his experience effected him greatly, NOT in a good way.  

Fast forward 56 years later. Can this be real? Here I am on a fancy Viking Cruise Ship visiting Saigon!  I was amazed as the bus whisked us from the boat into this heavily populated city, now called Ho Chi Ming City.  There are new buildings, lots of traffic, trash spewed over the streets, tangled electric cords hanging, but yet it had a prosperous feel.  We stopped at a glitzy mall, not what we expected at all! 

Later as we took tours around the area, we were told that the population has doubled since the 1970's!  It is a young nation, the average age is only 30.  It has a fast growing economy.  Although it is Communist, it is a hybrid Socialistic place.  In the north part, it is very conservative, while in the south it seems Capitalistic.  Since there is only one political party, Communist, we were told that  corruption is rampant.  You can buy yourself out of traffic tickets, most anything with bribes.  Want to start a business?  Just pay a fee to those in charge.  You get the idea.

The people seem to be very hard working and yet the average yearly salary is only $4,000 US equivalent.  The guide said it is nearly impossible to own a home or buy a car (the government charges as much as a car is worth in taxes).  It is a country of motorbikes chugging everywhere with many people riding on them at once.  The guide said most people follow a Folk Religion honoring their ancestors.  He said every home has an altar in an important area.  Another guide disputed this citing that most people are Buddhist. Google says there are 7 million Catholics in Vietnam representing about 7 percent of the population. While the constitution of Vietnam allows religious freedom, unfortunately there are many government restrictions on organized activities of many religious groups.

We enjoyed the tours although the CIA building where the LAST American helicopter left Vietnam, choked me up!  We saw the Reunification Palace that America built for South Vietnam at a cost of $50 Million US.  It is now a tourist stop with the red flag containing a star of a Communist government flying in front of it.  I feel sad that our country lost so many of my generation in Vietnam.  Was it worth it?  I don't know, but I pray our country is careful in getting into wars overseas without help from other countries and an exit strategy.

When we booked this cruise, we were looking forward to visiting Bali and Singapore.  Vietnam was not on our radar, but I must say, it has been educational and brought back past memories.  I am glad we had a few days here to put the past in some sort of perspective.