One of the reasons it is so good to be here with family is to share the depth of emotions. Not that I have much choice in the matter. Rusty, Marianne and I careen between tears and laughter, depending on topic, circumstance and fatigue. Just being in Viet Nam brings back images and emotions of Nixon-era US involvement, newspaper and tv photos, and all our shared feelings of guilt, sorrow, rage, and deeply held grief.
Perhaps because, as he said, Huy was borne in 1976, the year after reunification, and has learned about that history through books, or more likely because that history is cellular and just part of who he is as "baby boomer" Vietnamese, he does not show emotion. Other than humor and gentle wit, and a broad smile.
Yesterday over lunch (an elegant and very tasty,multi-course seafood meal on board a boat as we circled the remarkable karst rock formations of Ha Long Bay -- another story), he told us of earlier tours he led with returning Viet Nam veterans. He brought them to battlefields, to places where they had lost buddies. To places, he said,where they had left body parts. His remarkable empathy, even as a 20-something, taking these former enemies of his parents to lands still uncleared of land mines,is something I cannot contemplate without welling up in tears. Yet Huy tells a joke: "After you!" he says the vets joked, teasing him about clearing the field first.
Last night over dinner at the hotel (a large bowl of pho, the traditional Vietnamese soup) the three of us sat and talked and wept and laughed hysterically until it was clearly time for bed.
I doubt any one of us will be able to adequately share how deeply moving and important this trip is. We wish each f you could be here with us.
Perhaps because, as he said, Huy was borne in 1976, the year after reunification, and has learned about that history through books, or more likely because that history is cellular and just part of who he is as "baby boomer" Vietnamese, he does not show emotion. Other than humor and gentle wit, and a broad smile.
Yesterday over lunch (an elegant and very tasty,multi-course seafood meal on board a boat as we circled the remarkable karst rock formations of Ha Long Bay -- another story), he told us of earlier tours he led with returning Viet Nam veterans. He brought them to battlefields, to places where they had lost buddies. To places, he said,where they had left body parts. His remarkable empathy, even as a 20-something, taking these former enemies of his parents to lands still uncleared of land mines,is something I cannot contemplate without welling up in tears. Yet Huy tells a joke: "After you!" he says the vets joked, teasing him about clearing the field first.
Last night over dinner at the hotel (a large bowl of pho, the traditional Vietnamese soup) the three of us sat and talked and wept and laughed hysterically until it was clearly time for bed.
I doubt any one of us will be able to adequately share how deeply moving and important this trip is. We wish each f you could be here with us.
Thanks for this, Mollie.
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