Moving on

In 1968 I was 9 years old and living a comfortable life in rural NSW pretty much oblivious to the international situation.

image: robynejay

Here in Hue it was the scene of the Tet Offensive. With US forces focused elsewhere, for 3 1/2 weeks the National Liberation Front flag flew from the Flag Tower and Hue's 'uncooperative elements' were shot, clubbed to death or buried alive. It's estimated that 2500 of the town's merchants, monks, priests, intellectuals and government workers were killed.

With the South Vietnamese army unable to dislodge the Viet Cong and Nth V, the US army was called in. Huge areas of the city were levelled and in total around 10,000 killed.

It was a little surreal to walk a city with so recent a violent past. We gave Dong to a guy minus his legs, and passed hawkers selling military paraphenalia.

In the Imperial Enclosure tourist dollars are rebuilding and restoring the 1803 structures. French, US and Australian visitors are welcomed with smiles and grace.

Popular art

Propaganda art is a central aspect of Vietnamese life. Street posters send messages - political, health focused, cultural.

A few days ago we came across a great exhibition of propaganda art from the war years. Aparently the posters were produced by both professional artists and amateurs and used on the streets. Many naturally espouse the anti-US, and communist causes but a strong message was also one of unification, freedom and peace.

Despite being a fantastic snapshot of that period of Vietnamese history the young woman who answered our queries about the display said that they received many complaints from visiting Americans demanding that the images be removed.

image: nutbird

Seeing Orange

image: mrfink

Between 1962 and 1971 in Vietnam hundreds of millions of gallons of defoliants/herbicides with high levels of dioxin were dropped by the US. It is estimated that three million Vietnamese were exposed and at least one million suffer serious health problems today.

Some are war veterans, who were exposed to the chemical clouds. Many are farmers who lived off land that was sprayed. Others are a second and third generation, affected by their parents' exposure. Today the Red Cross estimates that around 150,000 children with birth defects can be readily traced back to their parents' exposure to Agent Orange during the war, or the consumption of dioxin-contaminated food and water since 1975.

Despite US Veterans receiving compensation for exposure, on March 10, 2005 Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn Federal Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies that produced the defoliants/herbicides that they knew were tainted with high level of dioxin on the basis that the use of these chemicals during the war, although they were toxic, did not in his opinion fit the definition of 'chemical warfare' and therefore did not violate international law.

As long ago as 1973 Peace Accords which paved the way to end the Vietnam War, included promises by the US of reparations of US$3.5 billion. So far, not a cent has been paid.

No shame...