The VietNam War revisited...
Was it really futile that through the experience of Vietnam, one became more conscious of one’s own human estate?
My dear Vietnam Veteran, in your honor, I take the pen to write about the emotions I have nurtured for ten years.
You and I both are blessed for the exposure to that part of life that shows us its side of evil and degradation. The veil that insulates a human being from his own mortality was torn within us. We therefore look at life under such a different angle. Through the so many superficial, materialistic layers that separate us from the Eternal Truth, we now can see directly into a person’s heart. Those who have been sheltered from this exposure, can never realize how concrete and tangible God’s love is.
It was also said that it was a “ thankless war”. Was it really?
The Vietnamese are grateful. From a South Vietnamese standpoint, the Americans came to help preserve the freedom and to defend the people from the Communists, by risking their lives and losing a lot of their resources. Those facts alone weigh heavily in the Vietnamese hearts.
In fact without probing deeper into the ramifications of the political, social and economic causes, we can note that there were a lot of beautiful sentiments between the Vietnamese and the Americans during that long and arduous stretch of the Vietnam War.
There were examples of courage, of loyalty and deep friendship when the Americans were forced to come and live amongst the Vietnamese. Such an emotional experience goes both ways. Those Americans who made the efforts to get to know the Vietnamese, must understand how grateful and appreciative South Vietnamese are of them. Love begets love, those who came to Vietnam with open hearts, left the country with the certainty in their own hearts of the deep feelings of gratitude shared by the Vietnamese To those who came with resentment and hatred, then the Vietnamese experience is indeed a nightmare.
To say however that it is a thankless war is to ignore the existence of such noble sentiments.
Vietnam no longer exists for the Vietnamese Nationalists, there is nevertheless a human lesson that is no less important- “ those who accepted the challenge despite the hardship and grief, emerged as better human beings, more humane and less materialistic, more aware of the real values of life and less concerned about life’s appearances. It was such an opportunity for
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