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Part Two
CPL Kirrily Kelson
I have previously travelled to Bougainville, East Timor, USA, New Zealand, Kuwait, Qutar, Jordan and Singapore. I thought Vietnam was a country filled with sadness and hate towards Western people. My father’s experiences within this country during the war also made me very apprehensive. Before we left there was a lot said about whether the boys from the TST would survive the first three days, never mind the full 13 days, and being the only female brave enough to travel with them, I initially found this a daunting prospect. After 24 hours in Singapore the boys were already in party mode, so when we arrived in Vietnam, I just knew the party was going to continue and guess what, it did and in a big way.
Ho Chi Minh City was fast and crazy, a place were crossing the road became a whole new art form and bargaining second nature. I could not help but think about the Vietnam War the whole time I was there, knowing this is the place where it happened and this is what my father had been talking about for all those years. I thought Ho Chi Minh City was a sad place but the people were always smiling, the true survivors of this world. Talk about a very different culture.
The one thing I was worried about was the food. I am a steak, eggs and chips girl so going to Vietnam and eating their food was my challenge. Half the time I just went hungry or just filled myself up with Coke and chips. I just could not accept the idea of eating a meal cooked for me on the side of the road, Vietnam style. When I found KFC I thought Christmas had come early.
Vung Tau was a huge change from Ho Chi Minh City, it was so quiet and beautiful. I was looking forward to this phase of the trip to see Long Tan and it was everything I imagined, just like Dad said but without the bullets. Standing in the same spot where Dad lived back in 1966 sent chills down my spine; it was so hard to believe I was there. We also saw the school that was built by Australians including the Vietnam Vets, and I could not help but feel proud. It was not hard to know it was a school that Australians built as the pictures of kangaroos on the doors was a giveaway. The airstrip is now used as a road with houses either side of it. When I looked at the children who live in these homes, I had to wonder if they had any idea of what this road was once used for.
Half way through this trip I broke away from the group and travelled to Hanoi to meet my sponsor child, Quynh, who is eight years old. Meeting her was very emotional and was something I will never forget. I was worried Quynh's mother would not accept me when I arrived, but it was her who took me by the hand and led me to Quynh. World Vision showed me around the area where I gained an appreciation for what they were doing for Quynh and her village. There were huge improvements compared to two years ago, now they have a house to live in, a school to learn at, food to eat, medical teatment every three months and most importantly, clean running water.
Hanoi was beautiful and I enjoyed discovering the history of Ho Chi Minh, the man himself, by seeing him lying in state. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. To watch people of all ages react to him was unforgettable. The city of Hanoi is very pleasant and the shopping is endless. My feet after the first day were extremely sore, but I knew it was from shopping so it was a pain I was happy to ignore. The feeling I got from Hanoi was that of a French colonial style and everywhere I looked it was worth taking a photo. I took time out to visit the museum in Hanoi where I wanted to see what the North Vietnamese really thought of us. I got the impression they were laughing at us. The whole museum was set up to poke fun at Americans, they proudly show all the equipment they captured during the war and everywhere you look the words ‘American Puppet Forces’ were proudly displayed. I met two American men while there and thought it was a brave decision to be there.
My trip to Vietnam let me experience a culture and see history that I will never forget, making me realise how lucky we are living in Australia. Visiting Vietnam has finished a 32 year history lesson I have received from my father on the Vietnam war. I now understand what he was saying and it makes me appreciate what he went through. Most importantly, I am able to answer that question on why he did it. The answer is simple; he did it for my freedom and theirs.
CFN Ian Barry
Prior to this trip, I had only been overseas to East Timor. Before departure, my opinion of the Vietnamese people was not very high. This was mainly due to my ignorance of their culture and country and most of what I knew I had learnt from reading books about the Vietnam War and watching one-sided American war films. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing, tasting or learning about the Vietnamese culture prior to embarking on this trip, the main reason I decided to go to Vietnam was to see where the Australian forces lived, fought and died during Australia’s involvement.
On arrival at Ho Chi Minh, the shock of Vietnam hit me like a slap in the face. The bus trip from the airport to the hotel will be forever tattooed in my mind. I did not realise so many people lived in Vietnam or that they all had motor bikes and could fit on the same road at the same time. My low and probably racist opinion of the Vietnamese people was quickly swept away and it wasn’t long before I found myself falling in love with the people, their culture and their beautiful country. The greater majority of the population has little or no money or possessions but are only too happy to share what they had with you. I found there hospitably so warm and welcoming.
A great experience was the coffee shop visit in the mornings. After being ravaged by a pack of tigers, actually it was probably more like half a carton (Tiger Larger) the previous night, it was pure gold to sit down on the sidewalk and sample the fine coffee. The dining furniture in these coffee shops was similar to the kind you would find in a kids play set, plastic and flimsy but sturdy enough for the Vietnamese population and most of the Australian touring party. I distinctly remember when the HQ element arrived at the coffee shop comprising WO2 Dunn and CAPT Partridge, both fairly big men, it used to create a moment of anxiety for the proprietors. When the young lady at the shop saw WO2 Dunn coming down the street she realised the stooling at the coffee shop was somewhat inadequate for the job, so she would intervene, thus avoiding an embarrassing incident. The young lady would suggest two, three perhaps four stools would be more appropriate for the weight distribution required. Despite the language barrier, we all laughed together.
The most moving part of the trip for me was when we went out to Nui Dat. All the books I’ve read about Australians in Vietnam now all seemed to fall into place. It had rained the previous night, which made the honda ride from Vung Tau to Nui Dat much more pleasant and on occasions interesting for those of us used to the safety of four wheels. As we were approaching the old task force base the skinny little track we were following opened up into a wide well constructed bitumen road. It then occurred to me that it was not originally the road that it is today. I was standing on the task force base airstrip, Luscombe, from where men and equipment left for and returned from battle. It made me feel rather humble to stand where my forebears stood before they left to uphold the spirit of ANZAC and the highest traditions of the Australian Digger. We also visited the Australian built school of Nui Dat. It’s their school. It made me very proud to be an Australian when I saw this. We were once at war with this country but we’ve now put this behind us and returned to help the innocent people who were affected by the war.
After negotiating (some better than others) our way down a slippery red mud track through the rubber plantation we came to the Long Tan memorial. As I stood at the Long Tan memorial, I was overwhelmed by a sense of great loss for both the Australian and Vietnamese soldiers who had there youth cut so terribly short when their life was taken from them. It’s hard to imagine the firestorm which engulfed this area as described in Lex McAulay book ‘The Battle of Long Tan’. Looking around at the almost non existent cover it’s amazing that any Australians survived the hail of rifle, RPG and machine gun fire which rained down on their position.
One of the day excursions was spent travelling out of Ho Chi Minh City to an old Viet Cong stronghold, the Cu Chi Tunnels. This place displayed the incredible ingenuity of the Vietnamese. The Viet Cong lived, fought and died from these ingenious and almost self-sufficient under ground complexes, some not seeing the light of day for years at a time. The United States employed a bombing campaign to deal with this situation, where B52 bombers dropped thousands of tons bombs on this area which killed thousands but failed to dislodge the enemy stronghold in the area. A temple has now been constructed near the site of the tunnels for all those killed in the bombing, where the 45,000 names of those killed cover the inside walls of the shrine.
This recent trip to Vietnam has opened my eyes to a whole new world and has changed my view of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam was a country almost on the other side of the world and geographically it still is, but in my mind, the country, the culture, and its people are much closer. I feel a great sense of remorse for all the servicemen and women who served in Vietnam and never got to meet and mix with the people on the level I did. They are beautiful people who hold no grudges. Initially I had never envisaged myself going to Vietnam but now I can’t wait to get back. I believe that myself and the other members that embarked on this trip have returned better people for it, and I highly recommend it as a travel destination.
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