Day 4
Today we had a great day! We were allowed to sleep in for about 30 minutes longer than usual, getting up at ONLY 6:30 AM. We all met outside for breakfast before leaving the hotel at 8:15 AM. Today was not a building day, instead we were lucky to have a tour guide who took us to the Cu Chi tunnels! We reached the tunnels around 10:30 am and even though we were a little tired, we were ready for a tour of the interesting tunnels and to learn about the history of them! Our tour guide Mr Hoa was very enthusiastic and passionate about the experiences that his country had had years before with external parties. He told us everything about the war that happened in Vietnam and about the brilliant strategies that they used to defeat the Americans. After 2 hours of touring the tunnels, which included crawling through the tunnels and shooting with powerful guns, we headed back to the bus for lunch. Soon enough we were in a very beautiful restaurant with a picturesque setting and of course sumptuous food!
As we headed back towards the hotel we had a short but keen stop at a handicraft company (HCM service of labour war invalid and social affairs), where artwork was made using egg shells, mother of pearls and paint. The most impressive thing was that these crafters were extremely gifted despite being handicapped in one way or another. It was also interesting because we were able to watch the crafters making the arts and craft. We all walked around looking for things we liked, and made numerous purchases! Today was experiential and a lot of fun at the same time. Before we end this entry, we would like to fill you in on some very interesting things that we learnt about the Vietnamese war which started in 1955. To make things more interesting we will present you with different perspectives held by people belonging to completely different groups. Namely the views that students on our trip had on the war and the views of the Vietnamese people themselves.
Perspectives on the Vietnam War: What our Students had to say
The Vietnam war being controversial in its nature has led to many arguments and differing views over the years. This is why some of our students were interviewed in order to get a better idea of the different perspectives on the war.
The first perspective was one that was slanted towards the American side. The students who felt this way perceived the war as being a struggle by the US to liberate Vietnam from communist rule. In this case, the war was seen in the favor of the US, where they were trying to help Vietnam avoid communism, which was part of their containment policy.
The other perspective was biased towards the Vietnamese. Students felt that the Americans were wrong in invading vietnam. The Vietnamese people had been in their own country for years and the USA had no right to invade them due to a conflict that could have been settled internally. They were simply trying to defend their country from the US invasion. Students with this perspective viewed the end of the war as a loss for both sides, as many innocent lives had been lost in the war and there was thus no real victory for either side.
My perspective is one where no country won, and where the war could have been prevented by the US. The motive for the US invasion was their policy of containment, according to which they would try and prevent a domino effect of communist expansion. However there is no way of justifying the deaths of millions of people that occurred due to just a difference in ideology; however, though the US government is sometimes seen as having been responsible for the war, they cannot be completely held accountable for all their actions.
All of us might have a million opinions on the war but what really matters is the views of the people who lived through the war; the views of the Vietnamese people.
The Vietnamese' history and views are far more insightful and interesting....
Not too long ago,Vietnam was invaded by external parties,particularly the US in 1955. At that time Vietnam was under a high risk of communist influence. The US then voluntarily stepped in to stop this communist expansion. This soon led to a civil war in which Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam which was under communist influence and South Vietnam which was supported by the US.
Although the Vietnamese were people who had significant chinese influence in their culture and language,they had a very strong sense of culture,tradition and Identity. They thus formed a small but distinct community driven by the love they had for their homeland. This is why the Vietnamese never backed down regardless of the countless failures they faced. They decided to work hand in hand with each other to successfully fight the invasion instead of helplessly watching their country slip away from them. They believed in themselves and in the power of teamwork. The result of their willpower and determination was a simple but brilliant plan, a complex system of tunnels, known as the Cu Chi Tunnels.
The Cu Chi tunnels were basically a series of very treacherous tunnels with built-in death traps that were built in Vietnamese jungles. These tunnels were extremely well camouflaged and thus led to the death of many American soldiers who knew not of its many secrets and mechanisms. Sticking traps,rolling traps,swinging traps and see-saw traps. These were some of the numerous traps that the Vietnamese came up with. Some of the tunnels in Cu Chi were also made to deliberately trick enemies. For example, tunnels known as 'tunnel rats' had big entrances but became narrower upon progression into the tunnel. This caused many Americans of a comparatively bigger built to be stuck in the tunnels. Even smaller built Mexican Americans were trapped because these tunnels were designed as mazes which made it almost impossible to find the trap doors. Besides this, they had many other very impressive strategies that worked for them such as the soldiers' rubber sandles which had soles designed in the opposite direction of movement to trick their enemies. Besides the soldiers, even the Cu Chi fighters and peasants helped by using leftover US weapons from previous bombings to create more deadly weapons. With such brilliant strategies at hand,the Vietnamese then set out to win their country back and eventually succeeded in regaining their independence.
Today the 'Cu Chi tunnels' is thus viewed by Vietnamese as a revolutionary military base which played an extremely significant role in the Vietnamese war. It stands today as exonerating evidence of the will and determination of a nation that stood strong and fought for itself. Although the Vietnamese might have won the war and regained independence in reality, many Vietnamese feel that the war was in itself a lost cause because millions of innocent lives were lost for no reason. Many Vietnamese of today are honest in saying that the US could have been more sensitive and avoided a voluntarily invasion of Vietnam. However they are wise enough to realize that many of the US soldiers did their duties without any other choices and that all Americans could not be blamed for the war. The Vietnamese will never forget their history and the lessons it has taught them but they are more than willing to bury the burdens of their pasts and look forward into the future. A future that will include befriending Americans and of course,peace,stability and happiness.
Ying Shu, Garett, Mangala
(credits to Marie)
