final post

The days are getting shorter and more free as we wind down this trip. Dr. Berman planned today perfectly and his explanation was very clear. We started this trip at the US consultant which was explaining how the two countries, America and Vietnam have made peace and now partake in diplomatic operations after a long brutal aggression between the two sides. We still have a day left but today was our last touring day and it was ended with the war remnants museum which shows the Vietnamese opinion or view on the war. It was certainly an eye opening experience. Before I continue let me rewind and say we all passed our oral Vietnamese language test. Okay so the museum...Dr. Berman briefed and essentially gave us a warning that all the writings and different sections In the museum is from the government. Of course we needed to be respectful but also know that there are two sides to the story and this was one. I studied a little bit on the war but learned most about the war on this trip. The museum was filled with brutal images of Americans torturing and going on killing sprees against the Vietnamese. The museum never mentions why or how the war started, it really just bashes America which is so hard to go through. The first floor is all about the world protesting America's invasion into Vietnam. They have just about all the nations in the world. Dr. Berman added that the museum used to be more "in your face" and when you first entered, the graphic pictures and such were instantly in your face, as if you were entering the battle field. The second floor though, hits you hard. The first sign is America's constitution talking about the equal rights that every human should have and then you turn right and see people on fire and a bunch of readings that say the Americans did this and here is a little boy eating his last meal. It was extremely disturbing and I instantly thought about the time I went to the Washington Holocaust Museum. Being Jewish, the holocaust is a very hard subject to talk or study about. I remember when I went to it in 7th grade, it was so hard to walk through and read about it. I finished the museum is 10 minutes because it was too hard because I am a Jew. My people were tortured and put through hell. As an American and being portrayed like that and also seeing facts about what we did in the war, I felt similar. It is hard to put into words but first I was sad because my religion was prosecuted and now my nation, my home, were prosecuting other people and fighting a terrible war. The deformed babies and people that agent orange caused is terrible, I ask myself, was it really necessary to spray chemicals that would do that much damage to people. Obviously, I was not alive during the war which is difficult to relate to especially because the musuem that I was seeing pictures at and reading about were bias. Coming back to the coutnry where we fought a massive and intense war is amazing. The way history and politics play out to allow us back here and then do tons of business with each other is really cool. We were able to learn and interact from and with these people which helps show that as a human race, there is still plenty of good in the world.