Saigon-Hue #3

American 'dog tags' and French military medals for sale as souvenirs. Hue, Vietnam.

It goes without saying that I'm not the first American to note how friendly the Vietnamese are to Americans, and how no one (except government propaganda) brings up the 'American War.' It's 2013. Vietnam is a young country, with most of the population under 30. The US and Vietnam now have a good, even warm relationship. And yet, considering the biggest news story in Asia right now--the territorial conflict between Japan and China, and the subtext of residual anger over Japanese occupation nearly a century ago--it is remarkable that such a long and brutal conflict could be consigned to history.

My American friend working at an NGO in Hue said he forgets there was ever a war in Vietnam, despite the fact that the old DMZ is only a half hour from his house. It says a lot of about the Vietnamese people that they've been able to move on and focus on the future.* In Cambodia, politicians still use the fallout from the Khmer Rouge to explain the country's relative lack of progress on development indicators.

The 'Vietnam War' is similarly absent from public dialogue in the US, but surely for different reasons. As the US looks to finish in Afghanistan and with the legacy of the Iraq War still unsure, I think some soul searching is in order as to what exactly was accomplished in these conflicts and what long term significance they have, beside the loss of life on both sides. 

*It's worth noting that I don't speak Vietnamese, and I've only visited the country for two weeks total, so my impressions are not particularly nuanced. I have heard that returning emigres can face considerable discrimination. Certainly there are some who want to keep the conflict alive in public memory: at every stop on the Saigon-Hanoi railway, a prerecorded English track with nationalistic stories about the war is broadcast.