Patriotism & Propaganda

The shadow of the American-Vietnam war is long and complex.

There are several people on the Odyssey who served here. I find myself looking at tourists around the age of 70 wondering about their backstories.

The mental images of Vietnam and the war are imprinted on our imaginations, from the news in the 70s, to movies and books over many years. When we were in Hué and Hanoi we couldn’t help but imagine intense fighting there. Interestingly, there is little evidence of, or memorial to, the conflict in those cities. No historical plaques commemorate battles, unlike Europe, where entire tour itineraries are built around WWII events. The war here seems to have been brushed under the carpet. But we know it can’t have been, completely. We have sometimes wondered whether the cool reception we experienced in a few places reflects collective memory.

Our tour of the Hôa Lò Prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton, told two different stories

Part I: Brave, patriotic Vietnamese revolutionaries and freedom fighters were held in brutal conditions by the colonial French oppressors.

Part II: Captured American pilots were held as “special guests” who received excellent medical attention, care packages from home, abundant food, and were taken sightseeing, despite the destruction they rained on Hanoi in December, 1972.

Unfortunately, because these two stories were told from such specific political perspectives it was hard to learn anything real about the French occupation or the American war. What was revealing was the difference between how Americans remember the war, often with brutal honesty and a lot of opposition, versus how it is rememberer here in Vietnam.

Echos of French occupation remain: roughly 200 words in common usage (ca phé, for example), architecture, pasties and baguettes. Perhaps the chaotic traffic could also be considered a holdover. There appear to be no rules, although local people assure us that there are. Crossing the street as a pedestrian requires careful planning and a certain insouciance.

As we travel south we’ll see whether the long shadow of the war is different, and how.

xoj&t