Da Nang, Vietnam
This a country that I never imagined I would be visiting. I was too young to serve. The US pulled out of Vietnam when I was 13. South Vietnam fell in 1975 when I was 15. I did meet many veterans as I grew up and all had changed immensely when they came home. They all seemed to share the same damage to their mental state. I can only imagine what it was like to be forcefully called up by the draft and then forgotten about after service.
Politicians are the ones that should have been spat upon. Not veterans.
We arrived at 8 am. Were there shuttles out of the working port? Were we updated as Kimberley promised? No update. As we walked off the ship we were told that there were no shuttles out of the port. It was a very large container port. I was chatting with our tour guide, Tom, and he told us to get on the electric cart. Was there a cart? Yes, not far from the ship. We hopped aboard and were driven to the port gate. We met Tom and our driver David at the gate. At least someone knows what happens at this port. Of course the names Tom and David are for us. The Vietnamese names are difficult to pronounce. It reminded me of hood by the rake. Japanese for wood by the lake. Difficult to pronounce sounds you don’t have in your native tongue.
Tom looked about 12 but he was 30 years old. He tried to make us feel better by telling us his mother was born in 1975. That didn’t help us. He did ask what is the first thing we think about when coming to Vietnam. The war, was our answer.
I learned about the draft when I was 8 years old. My clarinet teacher, Mr. Okon, told me “When Uncle Sam calls you up for the draft you wouldn’t have to fight. You can play in the band”. I really wasn’t ready to hear this. I asked my father what the the draft was. I started watching the newspaper for my birthdate and draft number. Great thing for an 8 year old to be doing.
Tom said that GIs that came here couldn’t even find Vietnam on a map. I know he was right about that.
Our first stop today was through the city of Da Nang and up a mountain.
The Hai Van Gate was an important defensive position. It was used by the US in the war. You could view two cities from this site. We were in the clouds but we could still make out the cities.
Our next stop was back down the mountain toward Hue, the old capital of Vietnam. On the way we stopped at a small village. Here we learned how to catch oysters. Bicycle tires. Bicycle tires were laid on the bed of the bay. Here the oysters attached themselves to the tires and were scrapped off into baskets. This was done daily. Massive amounts of oysters harvested here.
Back breaking work.
Next stop was the tomb of Khai Din.
Interesting tomb that survived the war. It looks very old but was built around 1921.
Lunch was next. A very nice place that served local food. Most of the businesses we passed so far are places we would never think of stopping. This restaurant was obviously built for tourists.
The food was very good. The meal was included and pre-ordered for us. We paid only for drinks. 3 beers and a bottled water. $6 USD
We stopped a Pagoda that was built by one of the Kings for his mother. 7 floors was significant in Buddhism.
Our next stopped was the Imperial City Citadel. This was a walled city built in 1803 by Emperor Gia Long. Everyone lived inside the walls of this city.
Lots of history. Tom recited everything he knew about Vietnam, Hue, and Buddhism. It was a long day. Still 2 or more hours back to Da Nang. Downtown looked nice from a distance but it was obvious that people here are poor. Tom told us about the house he grew up in. Built of bamboo sticks and thatch. The houses along the road seemed to be part business and part home. Things were very dirty and the people put up with it. I don’t know what Da Nang was like before the war but communism doesn’t seem to be doing what the people though it would do. Here we tried to stop communism and failed. Are we failing to stop it in our own country?
It was about 8:30 when we got back to the ship. Another ride on the electric cart to the ship from the port gate and we were home.…