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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer
I'd same some of the biggest supporters of the US fled after the War. Probably the majority couldn't get out. I met so many hospitable people in Saigon, it was mind-blowing. Up until I visited, I dismissed as Vietnam as somewhere I didn't want to go, anticipating anti-American sentiment. I was grossly wrong. It was the completely opposite. They completely loved Americans. It was just so commonplace, to dismiss as a one-off. Mostly South Vietnam though. North Vietnam has more of the suspicions, etc.
Impressions. I found a lot of differences from South to North. Most of the towns I went to, each had it's own flavor. All seemed quite unique.
Besides the biggest cities, I went to:
Dalat - mountain town with pine trees. It looked like something you might find more in North America. I wasn't impressed with it, but I'd imagine that for Southeast Asians, maybe seeing pine trees in southeast asia, might be really exotic and interesting to them.
Nha Trang - beach, beach, and more beach.
There were some others I went along the way, Hue and another...can't recall quickly which was which, but one had chinese style housing with miss growing everywhere on them. It didn't have that French Colonialism like you'd find in other areas.
In short, I don't know, I felt there were quite a few differences in each city. Far different from each other, than say cities in Korea or somewhere.
The cities are diverse, but I just felt all the towns looked the same. I suppose that's the same anywhere. With thousands of towns I suppose they will tend to look 'samey' after awhile.
I wanted to see Dalat but didn't get too. Sapa has a lot of that French colonial charm with pine trees, cool weather.etc, parts felt almost like Switzerland. Nha Trang was okay, not particularly interesting, the beach was just okay. The aquarium there was a bit sad though, most Asians aren't very environmentally sensitive.
I think the place with the Chinese architecture you mention was Hoi An. Definitely my favourite city/town in Vietnam, for it's 'village-like' atmosphere, great food, crafts, especially magical at night with all the lanterns lit up. Hue was quite cool too, like a Vietnamese Beijing/Xian, the Citadel is actually really modern only being built in the early 1800s.
Vietnam is a long country though - over 1400 km from north to south - so it's natural you'd see a lot more variation than Korea. But in terms of landscapes/villages etc it wasn't as diverse as I hoped.
I was in Vietnam for a month last year, and of course, especially being a Westerner, I was very conscious of the War. The Vietnamese know it as the 'American War', we call it the 'Vietnam War.' In Socialist Vietnam, one sees stalls selling replica US Military paraphenalia, and I've heard a lot of young people are really into American culture. Most Americans, Australians, Koreans (who were also involved) are treated well (I guess any dollar is as good as the next. In fact US dollars are preferred there as currency). From the few people I spoke to it doesn't seem there's a lot of resentment towards the US for the War, but of course I'm sure there's more to the story.
Is it more a generational thing? Do you think older Vietnamese still hold a grudge against the Americans? Vietnam is a young country, most people were born after 1975, so wouldn't have have actually lived through the War. They would have still heard stories from their parents and grandparents. I'm not saying they should hold grudges, but are they just forgiving or tend to hide it? I mean it's useless in a way...I found myself kind of angry once again when I saw the legacy of the American destructiveness: huge swathes of forests stripped, villages wiped off the map, ancient monuments destroyed. I know the government has definitely improved relations a lot with the US and the rest of the world since the 90s and I don't really think they see each other as enemies anymore. I do wonder how friendly they really are towards the US and the West though. I also wonder how they view the 'Overseas Vietnamese' who fled after the War.
I felt no resentment towards Americans. There is probably less resentment towards Americans than Aboriginal Australians feel towards Anglo Australians (I'd be to if my people were subject to genocide).
Hello there. Wow does the US or the world have a lot of crazy information about the Vientnam war. Very WRONG information.
Does Vietnam have resentment towards the US? Vietnam was already a civil war between North and Vietnam, and the US took up for South Vietnam. Was the US defeated or their efforts in a foreign civil war? Of course I don't know the specifics, but I can't believe the ignorance about this on the internet and elsewhere.
In addition, may boys from the US who were not in the Army or any branch of the military were DRAFTED to that war to take up for South Vientam. This means they were forced from their homes as young boys, forced to join the military and forced to travel accross the world to help a civil war going on in Vietman. At 19, would you want to leave your home, your good job, and travel accross the world to be traumatized half to death, or killed?
Put yourself in this position. Really think about what that means. Many Vietnam vets have died early due to chronically increased adrenaline levels, and other health problems. Some were already working high paying jobs at the age of 19, and were not only forced to war, but were paid only half the salary they had been making at their job for their military service.
And as a grand prize, when they returned home from their forced severe trauma, they were not given a pass for life time counseling if needed, or any mercenary/ war pay as compensation for being severly traumatized, and having to live with that for the rest of their lives.
So, when you think of this subject again, now who do you think should be upset over this situation? Do you think children of Vietnam vets who saw this done to their parents, and were raised by them, watching their parent suffer every day should be uspet? You bet. The vets were not compensated, and neobabither were their children. However, most still love many aspects of their country but are still upset by these issues.
And they should have been. How is it that fair, to DRAFT only certain people to war, not others and then provide no compensation to those who HAD to go?
A civil war is always upsetting to any country, but if you want to know if the Vietnamese are upset over that, would you be upset if during our own civil war France had tried to take up for the South, but they still lost?
Last edited by Stormyweather15; 08-02-2012 at 08:13 PM..
Hello there. Wow does the US or the world have a lot of crazy information about the Vientnam war. Very WRONG information.
Does Vietnam have resentment towards the US? Vietnam was already a civil war between North and Vietnam, and the US took up for South Vietnam. Was the US defeated or their efforts in a foreign civil war? Of course I don't know the specifics, but I can't believe the ignorance about this on the internet and elsewhere.
In addition, may boys from the US who were not in the Army or any branch of the military were DRAFTED to that war to take up for South Vientam. This means they were forced from their homes as young boys, forced to join the military and forced to travel accross the world to help a civil war going on in Vietman. At 19, would you want to leave your home, your good job, and travel accross the world to be traumatized half to death, or killed?
Put yourself in this position. Really think about what that means. Many Vietnam vets have died early due to chronically increased adrenaline levels, and other health problems. Some were already working high paying jobs at the age of 19, and were not only forced to war, but were paid only half the salary they had been making at their job for their military service.
And as a grand prize, when they returned home from their forced severe trauma, they were not given a pass for life time counseling if needed, or any mercenary/ war pay as compensation for being severly traumatized, and having to live with that for the rest of their lives.
So, when you think of this subject again, now who do you think should be upset over this situation? Do you think children of Vietnam vets who saw this done to their parents, and were raised by them, watching their parent suffer every day should be uspet? You bet. The vets were not compensated, and neobabither were their children. However, most still love many aspects of their country but are still upset by these issues.
And they should have been. How is it that fair, to DRAFT only certain people to war, not others and then provide no compensation to those who HAD to go?
A civil war is always upsetting to any country, but if you want to know if the Vietnamese are upset over that, would you be upset if during our own civil war France had tried to take up for the South, but they still lost?
Did you read anything at all in the thread? Seems like you're strongly on the defensive...when no one was on the offensive.
This is probably the most pro-Vietnamese AND pro-American combined thread you'll ever see...
Did you read anything at all in the thread? Seems like you're strongly on the defensive...when no one was on the offensive.
This is probably the most pro-Vietnamese AND pro-American combined thread you'll ever see...
My comments aren't about a particular person or poster, or country but the big picture. I've asked lots of questions for readers to think about, however, my posts aren't for a particular poster or person.
Last edited by Stormyweather15; 08-02-2012 at 08:38 PM..
i come from Viet nam and i was born afer 1975. Now, i'm living in saigon and i can affirm that young people do not resent Americans of Frenchs. Because war are receded, they are living in a peace city and fell comfortable abour their life. They only know vietnam-americar in history books. But now they want to improve the relationship between two contries.
i come from Viet nam and i was born afer 1975. Now, i'm living in saigon and i can affirm that young people do not resent Americans of Frenchs. Because war are receded, they are living in a peace city and fell comfortable abour their life. They only know vietnam-americar in history books. But now they want to improve the relationship between two contries.
I was in Vietnam for two weeks in 2010. The people were great. I was primarily in the north part of the country and can't think of anyone that was difficult outside of a couple of over aggressive people trying to get me to buy trinkets. I can't wait to go back and explore the rest of the country.
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