Viet Nam Human Rights
Peaceful place for American veterans (Part 1)
25/5/16
More
than four decades after the Vietnam War ended, among veterans had fought in
Vietnam, many people have found a peaceful place on the ground once they had
been deeply affected. Some veterans shared that they return to Vietnam to face
the specter of war, to know more about the country have been engraved in their
mind since they were young soldiers and also to close traumatic memories of
war.
According
to AP, after leaving Vietnam in 1970, Richard Parker thought of leaving memories of napalm bomb
attacks in the past. But time passes, the memory still haunt him. "We are
the bad guys. I myself have been faced with many ghosts," said Parker,
60-year old man said about the US war in Vietnam.
In
2011, he flew from ILinoise, US to Danang in central Vietnam where he had 22
months to serve in the US Navy. First, Parker visited several places, including
places he witnessed the distressing images of war. Also in that trip, a Vietnamese
man introduced Parker with a few veterans who are living in Da Nang. The
exciting meeting plus to witness firsthand the miraculous change in Vietnam has
led him to decision of going to Da Nang to live a few months later.
Deryle
Perryman, a US filmmaker has also shared his first visit to Vietnam in 1995:
"I come back for the mistakes of youth. And I saw a beautiful country with
extraordinary people”. Perryman have returned to Vietnam 17 times and called
for the precious help to contribute to overcoming the consequences of war in
Vietnam. A friend of Mr. Perryman, Chuck Palazzo - a former Marine Corps troop
in Da Nang living here, also shared his first return to this beautiful country
in 2001. After the visit he became co-founder of non-profit organization based
in the city of St. Luis, US under the name Veteran for peace. This group
organizes several annual visits to Vietnam for veterans with humanitarian
activities.
As
a US Marines veteran in the state of Colorado, Mr. Bill Ervin is currently
operating a tourism company in Da Nang with his wife also said that every year
there are a lot of veterans to Da Nang. They regularly travel by short-term
visas. Some veterans share they return to Vietnam to face the specter of war
and come to know more about the country have engraved in their mind since they
were young soldiers.
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All comments [ 10 ]
Nearly 40 years after the war, American vets who live in Vietnam are working to foster reconciliation between the two countries, while other former US soldiers are traveling there to find 'closure.'
They want to make up for what they had done during the war
The Vietnamese government says that in recent years more than 400,000 Americans – many of them former military – have visited the country annually.
American veterans have a long tradition of making pilgrimages to their old battlefields.
they have a need to make sense of a war that remains controversial.
Veterans that go back to Vietnam are reclaiming their place in history, both in a personal and national sense.
From the beginning, veterans who returned played a role in improving ties between the two countries.
They see their role as providing a bridge to Vietnam, a conduit to dialogue
Veterans in Vietnam today are continuing to address the past on both the grass-roots and diplomatic levels.
It's clear they feel at home in Vietnam, despite the lingering memories of war.
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