commemoration

This weekend we went to the Cu Chi tunnels. This consisted of a series of tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese during the Vietnam war (or as they call it here, the American War). As we toured the tunnels, many questions were raised for me about the appropriate way to commemorate tragic events. At first, the site felt a bit like a glorified tourist attraction. For example, much of the tour consisted of the group crawling through the narrow tunnels, and then reaching rooms with wax figurines. The guide proclaimed that we could take our pictures with the Vietcong figurines if we so desired. My initial reaction was that this was somewhat irreverent. Yet, perhaps crawling through the tunnels is an appropriate way to commemorate the space, for it allows you to truly begin to picture what the experience was like (bats, creepy crawlies, minimal lighting and all). Also, the experience was strange because we watched what was essentially a propaganda film and contained many phrases such as "the americans killed the citizens with american weapons" "american killers were rewarded" etc. etc. that made the americans feel a bit uncomfortable sitting next to our vietnamese roommates.

Yet, what is the best way to commemorate these events? How was this any different than the way we choose to commemorate events in the U.S.? Was it just the foreign setting that got to us? It was very odd to walk through the rubber plant jungle and realize that this was truly one of the places where the Vietnam war happened.

One final part of the trip that was surprising to me was that there was a three year old or so Vietnamese girl who was posing for a picture with a giant machine gun. Her mom was taking this picture.This was entirely shocking to my western ideologies. Yet, I believe this may once again point to the concept that childhood is not nearly as distinct of a time period in Vietnamese culture as it is in Western culture.