My Beautiful Vietnam 2020
Vietnam in this journey from January to March 2020 has been a revelation. Some parts are tragic, like the children we met at Friendship Village in Hanoi with birth-defects related to Agent Orange. We have met other people who have been injured by landmines. Yet, today, if you will I want to focus on the immense beauty of this extraordinary country of Vietnam. For my baby boomer generation the war that the Vietnamese called the American war we still have many real and vibrant memories. Though we should never forget the horrors of the war, in 2020 it is time to put on a new pair of lenses. We have been savoring the vivacious and vibrant life of Vietnam Vietnam is about children and youth. There are very few Vietnamese who are our age. My guess is that more than 60% of Vietnam is people less than 25 years of age who have no memory nor understanding of the war American kids who have no understanding nor real interest in knowing the truth of Vietnam. In our Instagram social media era if it did not appear on Facebook today it is irrelevant. I thoroughly enjoy the tremendously vibrant and friendly people here. Though I do not speak much more than 20 words of Vietnamese it is fairly easy to communicate. A smile and a wave hello and wishing people happy New Year’s Vietnam makes people. My camera and computer are filled with thousands of photos of children playing in the parks, the exquisitely beautiful women, and the scenery from the mountains of Ba Nang to the charming city of Hue. Children at War Museum in Dan Nang. It is a great joy playing and talking with the children here.
Vietnam – HCMC Saigon – 14 January 2020 – Journey to Forgivness
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 – Today we will travel on to Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, yesterday walking around towards the downtown park and the Buddhist temple. The Buddhist temple closed so we walked around the markets in the streets. Hot city. You can see why there is global warming. Hundreds of thousands of motorbikes in their small cycle engines whirling by. As I walk through the streets I feel the heat and find it difficult to breathe from the smog.Saigon is big, ugly, crowded, broken walkways. But the girls, are lovely. Ah, in the eyes of the “mature” nothing so sublime as the sexiness of youth. But, a few older Vietnamese woman I’ve seen in the streets, my age, worn by work and life, scrawny, bent over from labor, and they look at me and give me a toothless smile. Ah, a warm beautiful smile. I think some of my best drawings are the beautiful “mature” woman with such character and life in their faces. The thing that is most compelling is the apparent ease and grace that people have in connecting with one another. In the few days that I’ve been here, I’ve seen people very easily and graciously interacting with one another. I don’t understand a word of Vietnamese, but the overall graciousness and gentleness of people interacting and playing with each other at all levels is very pleasant. I don’t see any anger, pushing, shoving like you would see in New York City on a daily basis. Even in the crowded marketplaces where people are selling clothes and trying to make a living, it is assertive, but very friendly. There is a widespread underemployment. So many people seem like they are eking out a living of a few cents here and there by selling some raffle tickets or trinkets. This seems to me to be so cruel. The cruelty of people struggling to make a living out of selling something so trivial and small. A man is without legs sitting on a piece of cardboard on the corner selling what looks like raffle tickets. But there doesn’t seem to be a sense of anger or aggression. There are very few people that are our age mid-sixties. We look great compared to many other senior citizens here. This is the privilege of a middle-class income in Western society. I can only imagine how enormously difficult it was for many people here both during the war and in the postwar years. Despite the glimmer and gloss of huge skyscrapers in the shiny glimmering of modernity, it is fair to say that most people I see in the markets and in the streets around me are barely surviving. Yet, unlike in the USA, no one is sleeping in the streets. Yes, there are people in rickshaws stretched out for a nap or stretched out on top of their motorcycle as if they were taking a nap on a full-size bed. It is a culture where people have survived with so little for so long, that a little bit of space, a little bit of luxury a little bit of money seems like a fortune. There are women and men grilling meat, cooking vegetables and rice on the side-walks. Barely a few feet of space and they have a complete “restaurant” set up. For rice, meat and vegetables it is probably about 50cents or less for a plate. Though everyone is thin, I suspect no one goes hungry. I think if someone did not have money they will still be given something to eat. I am a blind man going through this new land. The smells of meat grilling and cooking fill the air as I walk on the streets. No one really paying attention to the old white guy. Smiling and nodding their heads, but generally, we are just part of the flow of traffic and humanity. However, we are conscious that even with our modest income we must be seen as the super-rich. We are super-rich even though we live on modest pensions and social security. (There will be another section in the future on the retirement scene in Vietnam. Americans can live quite comfortable here on their social security. That will follow in the section “Sweet Home Hanoi.” Sung to Sweet Home Alabama.) Yes, there are women begging in the streets with their children. Last night I passed a woman with a hydroencephilitic baby, I’ve seen a lot of horrendous things as a medical provider, but that scene was enough to break your heart. This is a theme that I keep in the back of my head as we are walking around the downtown markets. I know there is poverty that is even far greater than here even though that is difficult to imagine. But seeing someone on a street corner selling some little paper toy for a few cents and that is their livelihood is depressing and it seems like a cruel way to make your living. The level of entrepreneurship is extraordinary. Anybody can set up a little fruit or vegetable baskets for sale. I have no idea how people are able to make a living by selling so little. This is the cruelty of capitalism
The Many Tails Wagging the dog
I am on a peace arts trip to Vietnam in the first days of the new decade 2020 and the Trump administration has just assassinated Iranian General Soleimani. Whether the General was evil or a patriot is irrelevant, it was an act of war by the USA. In visiting the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City it’s clear that the USA the most technologically advanced country could not defeat a guerilla army of Vietnamese nationalists. The USA can win the war with Iran, but like in Afghanistan and elsewhere it will not win the peace. Now, the USA at the behest of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Military Industrial Mafia Inc. led by an ignorant, lying, and morally corrupt President is prepared to throw more gasoline on the conflagration with Iran. Why squander trillion of dollars for another war? Are Congress, Senate and the American people willing to be lead to war with Iran? It is FUBAR deluxe, finagled up beyond All Rationality. It is a labyrinth of lies and the axiom for all war – money. All the bombs and the most sophisticated weaponry could not defeat the Vietnamese’s desire for independence from France and the USA. The Vietnamese nationalists under Ho Chi Minh had fought against the Japanese and helped the British and American war effort. In turn, the Vietnamese were promised independence from the 100-year colonial occupation of France. Sadly, when Ho Chi Minh presented the Vietnamese constitution, based on the US constitution, to US Secretary of State Dulles it was rejected. The French army that had been destroyed in WWII was rearmed by the Americans. The French were soundly oral steroids defeated by the Vietnamese nationalists in 1954. The Americans created a puppet government in South Vietnam that lead to the disaster we know as the Vietnam War. The USA’s war with Iran began in the wake of WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and in collusion with Britain it sought to control the oil and wealth of Persia/ Iran. Stretching back further is the ideological war between Shiite versus Sunni Islam. The USA has a predisposition to getting into conflicts it doesn’t understand. The clueless irrationality of US foreign policy in the Middle East is a mystery that even the wisest sage cannot fathom. For example, we give Israel $3.5 billion dollars every year that supports the destruction of the Palestinian people and further fuels fundamentalist ideology across the Islamic world. The USA had overthrown the Iranian government of Prime Minister Mossadegh in 1953 and then supported the tyrannical rule of the Shah. The result of the Gulf Wars was the disaster of ISIS and the implosion of Syria. It is difficult to pick out which idiocy of foreign policy was and is most pernicious; however, the current war-mongering with Iran ranks at the top. The USA, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and all the dogs of war with competing and similar interests are trying to overthrow the government of Iran again. The tails that wags the rabid dog of war are many. Netanyahu’s impending corruption trial and Israel’s desire for complete hegemony in the Middle East and the desire to eradicate the Palestinian people are one wagging tail. Another one is Saudi Arabia’s thugocracy of pampered faux royalty and their murder of Khashoggi, their genocide of the Yemen people and their horrendous human rights record are reasons to wag a tale of distraction. Or, perhaps at the core is the 1,300-year religious feud between Sunni (Saudi Arabia and allies) and Shiite (Iran, Iraq, Mutawila (Lebanese), Yemeni (Houthi)) that is also fueling the fires. The impeachment trial of the mentally ill and ignorant President, and the vulture corporations the Military Industrial Mafia Inc. who are salivating at the prospect of war and profits are all reasons for the dog to wag furiously. Which tail is wagging the war dog? Which tale will we believe? In a world of madness which is the most rabid dog? The hoi polloi ditto-heads are enthralled by the whiplash irrationality and ignorance of a President unfit for office. As I walk through the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam today it is clear that real diplomacy and engaging in dialogue is a lot cheaper than war. The steps the Obama administration took to engage Iran were vital first steps, but the USA failed to capitalize on this and extend the dialogue. Then without any rationality, the Trump administration reneged on the nuclear arms treaty with Iran. It is ironic that Iran has been transparent about their nuclear abilities, but Israel one of the world’s largest nuclear powers has denied having nuclear weapons. Israel has been goading the USA to attack Iran for years. Imagine the trillions of dollars and the millions of lives that could have been spared if the USA had fulfilled its support for Vietnamese liberation in the 1940’s? Imagine, instead of the bombs and Agent Orange, the USA instead gave support for creating a robust society with schools and hospitals? The lesson from Vietnam is clear, diplomacy is far cheaper than war. As Major General S. Butler (USMC) reminded us, “The only purpose of war is to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer.” Cry havoc, for the dogs of war are wagging their tails and have slipped their leash.
I am the Vietnam Generation: Can we be the generation of contrition
by Namaya 5 Jan 2020 I am the Vietnam Generation: Generation of Witness: Can we be the Generation of Contrition? 1. Prelude: Rage! Sing the rage for the innocents. Rage! Sing the rage, and call for atonement. As rage dissolve to contrition and lead us home to love. The Dharma is not war, it is the journey home to love. Dharmapada, the path to true Dharma, to give to surrender to love. 2. Shroud of War: Invocation I do not want to be called a Baby Boomer. I am the Vietnam generation I am the generation of witness and fire. I was a hospital corpsman during the war and though far from combat, the war haunts my generation and its veterans. This war of decades ago and the ongoing wars of the Military-Industrial machine, shrouds my waking hours. Vietnam: Fire. Redemption. Love I am the Vietnam Generation. I hold the memory of two million Vietnamese children, men, and women killed during the War of Liberation. I hold the memory of the 58,229 dead American and the 55,000 French soldiers killed. Not killed for patriotism. Not killed to save a nation. Killed for the Military-Industrial insanity. millions of wounded soldiers and children maimed with bombs and Agent Orange. How has the USA paid recompense for the 400,000 Vietnamese killed by the poison Agent Orange? How have we remediated the land destroyed by bombs and Agent Orange? How have we paid for these killings? How many generations will it take to heal this land? Can this land every recover? Is there a salve that can soothe the scars of Napalm bombs? Is there a salve that will heal the skin of those burned with phosphorous? How do we Americans care for the thousands of deformed children born today? When will there be contrition? How have we atoned for our deeds? How will we atone for My Lai and the unknown massacres? How will we care for the people and land destroyed by the sin and evil of war? While the chairman of Dow Chemical Carl A. Gerstacker played golf on immaculate green lawns. While Dow Chemical’s Napalm incinerated Vietnam and burned people alive. While Monsanto gained fortunes for its stockholders with the poison Agent Orange. While the war profiteers made their poisons and guns to destroy Vietnam, and heralded the greatness of the USA. While Nixon scuttled a peace deal in 1968 so he could get elected. While McNamara formulated the calculus of war. While Johnson, Kennedy, Kissinger and all stoked the machine of war. They were the architects of monumental hubris. While those ensconced in draft deferments, protested the war. While the poor and working-class soldiers were sucked into the vortex of conscription. I want to hold the hundreds of thousands of wounded and homeless veterans. These same veterans now huddled in the streets shivering cold throughout the USA. I don’t want us known as The Woodstock generation Of the ephemera of peace and love. I want us to hold in our bones the imperative of peace and contrition. Do we have the courage to bend down on our knees in supplication? 3. Noble Saints of Peace And to you the noble saints of peace, who came to Vietnam and cared for the children. To the warriors of the higher conscience, who refused to march off to war. To the soldiers who returned and now are working for justice in Vietnam. To those who chose prison over war. To those who fled family and home to protest. The courageous monks were driven mad with pain, burned themselves alive to protest war. The students at Kent State shot dead by soldiers while they protested against war. Your acts of resistance and love shines through the dark with fearless courage. 4. Witness: Cambodia This year, I journeyed to Cambodia, where the genocide and killing fields were fostered by the American war machine. Twenty-five percent of Cambodians killed. The soul of a nation shredded by genocide. Children born after the Americans went safely home are still maimed and killed by landmines. Children in wheel-chairs are begging. Eyes famished for hope and ask us, “Please, help.” Where is our contrition? How is their forgiveness? Where is our mercy and justice? The killing fields and landmines are underfoot as I walk through the Mekong. Some paths have been cleared, but much of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are littered with landmines and Agent Orange. Landmines dropped by American war planes in a rain of evil, blacker than evil itself. Where is the shame That should burn in our soul? Where is the repentance? Where is the contrition? How have we healed the wounds? Where is our courage to end war? 5, Laos Beautiful innocent Laos. Nestled in the mountains, ancient Buddhist land, now infested with land mines that destroy and maim children decades after the war. More bombs were dropped on Laos than in all of WWII. Today, I walk through the fields. Our guides point us to the right path, but there are no signs, no guideposts to the landmines strewn by the Americans. The US Military indiscriminately bombed and poisoned Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Today, I meet children at the hospital, their legs destroyed, some with faces shattered, their bodies and souls nearly destroyed from cluster bombs dropped near fifty years ago. How do we begin contrition? How are we humbled and shamed by our deeds? When will we bend to our knees to ask forgiveness? 6. The US Military Industrial Machine We, the Vietnam generation, have we grown complacent waddling to retirement and investing in the war machine? Panama, Grenada, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the necklace of our war machine is made from the skulls of children. We have raped, ravaged and looted countries around the globe. Our trillion dollar platinum plated
Journey to Forgiveness: Then and Now
Welcome to my first blog post on “Journey to Forgiveness.” I, Namaya, have been invited to Vietnam to undertake an art residency at the New Space Arts Foundation to do an art/writing/ photography residency entitled “Journey to Forgiveness”. With my creative partner, Zoe Kopp, we will spend the beginning of January exploring Vietnam and considering the impact of the “Vietnam War of Independence” that ended in 1975. However, the affects of the war, both the personal trauma and the on-going ecological impact has continued. Some 400,000 deaths have been reported related to Agent Orange, the herbicide that was sprayed in Vietnam during the war, that caused horrific damages. To this day there are children born long after the war with birth defects due to Agent Orange. There are still unexploded ordinances that cause injuries and fatalities more than forty years after the war. During this Vietnam/French/ American War that had continued in one form or another from the 1940’s to 1975, it is estimated that two million Vietnamese were killed. Also, 55,000 French soldiers and 58,222 US American soldiers were killed. The events in Vietnam in 20th century deeply affected and changed me. Therefore, I am undertaking this art and multimedia project called “Journey to Forgiveness”. During the first few weeks of January we will be traveling throughout Vietnam. We will interview people who have memories of those years of the Vietnam War – the “war of liberation” as well as the younger generations. This is a continuation of my writing and art on the subject of forgiveness. At the end of the residency I will be offering a presentation in music, poetry, photography, and art on the theme of forgiveness at the New Space Arts Foundation in Hue. The presentation will have community involvement and be focused on being a healing experience. We underscore our goal is to listen and observe with respect and sensitivity to the people of Vietnam. Even though the war officially ended forty five years ago, the scars and trauma of the war persist. As a US American I am keenly aware of how the USA has engaged in wars and colonialism over its two hundred year history. The USA’s war in Vietnam and the its support for French colonialism is one of the most egregious and shameful episodies in our history I am a 65-year-old US Navy hospital corpsman 1972-1974, a Veteran for Peace, a former Peace Corp Volunteer, poet and multimedia artist. Though I had no direct experience with combat, living through the war years and subsequently working with veterans and peace groups has had a profound influence on me. As a result of my two years of service in the Navy, I became a pacifist. I have spent these past decades engaged in the conversation about peace building through arts, writing and performance. I have spent many years working on the themes of peace and human rights. Vietnam has profoundly impacted all Americans, especially the baby boomer generation that grew up during that time and their children. This war affected all of us, though its impact on Americans cannot even come close to the impact it had directly on the people of Vietnam. My wish is that during this brief visit to Vietnam, by working on this theme of forgiveness, I can begin to understand how this process of healing has or has not transpired since the end of the war. It is my intention upon my return to the USA and Europe to present this art, photography, and writing in public presentations. It is also part of my on-going multiyear work: Pornography of War: The Impact of Militarism in Society. “PALM SUNDAY in Our Quest for Humanity” 1. “Palm Sunday Belfast” April 2017 Church bells gloriously peel in Belfast. Joyfully, Jesus home to Jerusalem. To the holy city of peace, he brought the enduring message of – Love. Beyond creed and ideology, The faith of – One Humanity. Now nineteen years of peace The Easter Accordsealed in blood. Our fields of barley and rye Are anointed with tears. Our children and kin buried In those troubled times. Church bells peel, hallelujah! We fold our hands to prayer. We shake hands with neighbors. After church, we raise a glass of Guinness, To bitter and fragile memories, Stout dark pools of time. Church bells herald deliverance From the horror and loss of war. Angelic Belfast April morning Spring’s light pierces pewter gray clouds! Today, too much of the world in pain, Us and them – Hate and fear- war. Palm Sunday’s morning promise Is of forgiveness, mightier than hate. As love leads us home To an enduring peace. 2. “Cross of our Humanity: Coptic Church Alexandria” Palm Sunday, in Belfast, we ring the bells To celebrate our deliverance from sectarian violence. Our country torn apart by hate, poverty, and ignorance. We killed each other in the name of God and love. We denied our humanity and will to reason, We became the vultures of hate and fear. Irrational! Mad! Torn apart by madness. Sheer insanity. We had forgotten the will to Love other, To love not just our kin, but our neighbors. Brothers and sisters of the Coptic faith, We in Derry and Belfast intimately know your pain. Beyond insanity, is the killing of innocents, This killing of innocents is the rape of humanity. Even Allah and the prophet Mohammed would weep At this shame, Haram, the religious forbidden, Haram, the religious forbidden, so vile that even God would find it difficult to forgive. 3. “Bitter Harvest in a Land of Refuge” Sweden, land of tolerance and refuge, Land of peace, welcome, and freedom. One madman driven by his demons Drove a truck into a crowd and killed. Sweden didn’t burn down mosques, They brought flowers and prayers to witness. The words of love, hope, and unity Ring throughout the land. 4. Palm Sunday Syria Ancient church from the time of Christ In Damascus, Christians quietly pray. Church bells silent, as the words
