It was with some trepidation that I signed up for a trip to Southeast Asia. It’s been almost fifty years since a war ended that devastated Vietnam and divided Americans. I worried that I would offend those of my generation who served there by visiting a land of so many traumatic, sad memories.
It was hard to see those wounds in the beautiful, fascinating country I visited last year. Vietnam is lush, the cities vibrant, the markets colorful, and the people friendly. I was laboring under misconceptions based on seeing pictures of that war on the evening news. I also remember friends who served and came back physically or emotionally hurt.
Hanoi, the location of February’s recent summit, is crowded with motor scooters transporting everything from entire families to major appliances. The most surprising aspect of this very French city was the veneration of the late Senator John McCain. McCain was the first high-ranking U.S. official to visit and encourage normal commercial, diplomatic, and tourist relations with Vietnam. His wartime treatment at the Hanoi Hilton was brutal; yet, he forgave his former tormentors, and they openly revere him for it.
The Vietnamese people we met in villages, the countryside, bustling local markets, or the modern Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) made this tourist feel welcomed. Even during the war, Hanoi “drew a distinction between peace-loving Americans and the imperialist government.” (Vietnam a Lesson in Reconciliation, Chicago Tribune Feb. 27, 2019).
I left with the hope that, like Senator McCain, we can reach out for reconciliation between the Veterans I honor and respect and those they fought. Perhaps one result would be healing for some of our Veterans of that long-ago war.
We can all hope that February’s summit, or some later highly publicized international meeting in Vietnam, will open such an era. Maybe not now, but some day.
