VIETNAM / CONFLICT

WISH ME LUCK

Battle of Hue during Tet Offensive

Americans of a certain age were certainly affected by the Vietnam War. 

Conscription and a robust anti-war movement frightened this scribe, and as I neared that age, I was worried I would soon be embroiled in the conflict. I had a draft card! and America was in turmoil and the war (called the ‘American War’ by the Vietnamese) was the first war broadcast at home. The war consumed us daily, even from the neighborhood stoops as some older friends who served in the war frightened the bejesus out of us as they regaled us with horror stories from Southeast Asia.

No, I didn’t want to go, and yet soon we are traveling to Vietnam on a month-long tour that has us exploring the length of the country from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and afterwards, a mini “holiday” in Cambodia.

The American support for the conflict ended in 1973, before I would have been drafted, but Vietnam remains for me an ominous destination. I guess that may seem a bit ridiculous to you, my fair reader. I never even served in the military, so what would be the big deal traveling to Vietnam today?

More understandably would be the attitude of my father. He was part of the D-Day invasion of World War II. He was vehemently opposed to attending the 50^th Anniversary.  He did not want to return, but at least he was there!

More understandably would be the attitude of a dear friend of ours who served in the Vietnam war as a Tunnel Rat. Yeah, he was one of those guys who would crawl into a Viet Cong tunnel with a flashlight, a knife, and a gun. We NEVER ask him about his experiences there and he thinks we’re nuts to travel to Vietnam. Yet, today, you can go on a tour of the Cu Chi tunnel system not far from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) like it is part of a f**ing amusement park.  

TUNNEL WARFARE VIETNAM WAR 

HUE, VIETNAM

So, I am trusting my dear trophy wife, Janet, that all will be well on this trip to Vietnam, that I won’t soil my pants with a car backfiring in Hanoi, that I will see the beauty of this country from her cosmopolitan cities to her rice paddies. I will endeavor to not just see the dark history of places like Hue during the Tet Offensive, but to also know her beauty today in today’s thriving society of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After all, this trip is her idea and my conflicting feelings be damned...we're going.

VISIT HUE

Wish us (me) luck.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2024 by Gregory Dunaj

HUE DURING THE TET OFFENSIVE

CU CHI TUNNEL TOUR