I've been writing a lot about the fun parts of this tour; the pretty beaches, the cheap food and beer... and indeed this trip has been a lot of fun. In addition to this though, we have been taking the time to revisit some of the less pleasant history that is associated with Southeast Asia. While difficult at times, this is a part of my trip that I will stay with me for a long long time and I wanted to dedicate some thoughts to it today. Both Vietnam and Cambodia has been through a lot of bloodshed and pain this past half century or so. I can't help but contrast and compare how each country has fought to survive through the difficult times, and where they are today.
Everything I know about the Vietnam War came from the U.S. public school system. It was quite simple, actually. Communism = bad, Americans = freedom. And upon arriving in Vietnam, I found that the opposite is preached. The Vietnamese government has implemented a sort of haughty pride about the war; I guess it's appropriate, since they basically won and all. But there's nothing subtle in the way they try to flaunt their propaganda to the masses.
The message is that Vietnam as a country has been enslaved and subjugated for years, from the evil French colonialists to the heartless Americans. The current government is credited with freeing the people from the tyranny of the aforementioned American devils. Ho Chi Minh is the father and hero to all. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City, which was a sample of where the Vietcong ambushed and trapped American troops.
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| We had to sit and watch a propaganda 'documentary' prior to entering the Cu Chi Tunnels |
Homemade weapons and traps are demonstrated by local workers. Murals of American soldiers being caught in these traps of death are proudly displayed. Segments of the underground tunnels are available for exploring... you too, can feel what it's like to be a brave brother in the Vietcong!
I left Vietnam firmly believing that the U.S. should never have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. They were ill-equipped to deal with the surroundings. They had no way to differentiate between the regular population and the Vietcong. It was a mess.
But then I visited the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields today in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. In the mid-1970s, Cambodia went through their version of Hitler (to make the comparison simple): a guy named Pol Pot who led the Khmer Rouge Regime. He cleared the cities of Cambodia and forced residents into the countryside to work as farmers. He killed intellectuals and the wealthy, and destroyed books and libraries and places of worship. He eventually executed thousands and thousands of civilians, accusing them of being spies. Estimates round out the fatality number to be close to 2 million people, or about a third of the total population.
Both the museum and the fields were brutally emotional in different ways. The museum is located at the former grounds of where many prisoners were held and tortured and killed. These were mainly people who the Khmer Rouge regime wanted confessions from. There is no sugarcoating it; photographs of starved and beaten prisoners were displayed on the walls. Prison cells remain, tiny cubicles that were 3x6 feet big, some with old bloodstains still present. Instruments of torture are displayed, with images depicting how they were used. The final estimate of deaths at this one compound? Twenty thousand.
In contrast to the concrete cells and barbed wire of the museum, the Killing Fields exuded a weird sense of tranquility instead. I like to imagine that this provides some form of peace to the dead, but in reality I don't think they rest easy.
Located about 10 miles from Phnom Penh, the Killing Fields are exactly what they seem to be. Truckloads of Cambodians were transported to this place, executed, and then dumped into mass graves. There are an estimated 300 of these killing fields located throughout Cambodia. While most of the bodies and bones have been removed, indentations in the grass indicate where the graves used to be. The audio guide explained each point of interest in the most macabre of ways.
- Tread lightly, for bones are still uncovered as rainstorms pass by.
- Here is the Killing Tree next to the mass grave containing mostly women and children. The tree is named so because bits of hair and blood and brains have been found on it; indications are that the Khmer Rouge soldiers used it to bash in babies' heads before tossing them into the grave.
- Here is a Sugar Palm Tree. It provides shade and sugar, but its stalks can be filed to a sharp edge and were used to slit the throats of prisoners, thus negating the need for expensive bullets.
This went on and on, each fact more horrible than the last.
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| Remains are displayed and honored in a memorial building |
The U.S. did nothing while this genocide went on. Did we enter the wrong war? Could we have done something? I don't think that ultimately there is a correct answer for this. But the closing statements from my audio guide probably sums it up the best. While the events in Cambodia are heartbreaking, it is not the only instance of senseless genocide in the world. It has happened before, and it will happen again. Sites like these are certainly don't fit within the standard of a 'fun' vacation, but it is important to see and feel these places anyway.
We have to remember. We have to learn from it.
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