word: war
Hello! I just recently finished my time in Vietnam, but I wanted to post some reflections about this special place.
While in Vietnam, I quickly recognized that this was not just another country I had entered, but my country has had a history with this country… and a history that was not too long ago.
During my time in Vietnam, I learned a lot about the war.
– While in Da Nang, I visited a military museum. This was a very interesting museum, but did not give me the context needed to more fully understand this complicated war.
– On December 3rd, my team made our way back down to Ho Chi Minh City to meet up with the larger squad. On the long bus ride down the coast of Vietnam, I watched one episode of The Ken Burns Vietnam War series. This episode revealed many different angles of the war. It explained how the US entered the war, the willingness of American soldiers to fight when the war first began, the changeover of presidents from Lindon B. Johnson to Nixon and the political games played, how the war effected both the US and Vietnam’s economy largely, the growing protests in the US, and finally how the US slowly retreated from the war in 1973. There was one point of the film that addressed the trail that soldiers would take traveling down to Ho Chi Minh… very crazy that we were likely near that trail while watching on the bus. The film made me understand more fully the many complexities of this war.
– Finally, on December 5th, I had one full day in Ho Chi Minh city and many of us visited the military museum there. No, the museum did not explain the war completely from both sides, but it did present an even fuller understanding of the war. The museum had exhibits on the timeline of the war, photography of the war, descriptions of war crimes, the damage from agent orange, and the end of the war/ desire for peace around the world.
Overall, learning about this war has been absolutely heartbreaking. A time in our country’s history that is just so clouded with confusion. It was a time for questions, tragedy, and chaos. It was a war that we questioned half way in if we should have ever entered. A war that had soldiers directed to kill the innocent, a war that had soldiers questioning if going AWOL was the more patriotic thing to do, a war that had our country up in riots over basic human rights and values. It seemed to be a sort of moral stirrup.
This war was one of the most devastating parts of history. In many ways it tore apart our country. It stripped us down to question what we thought we knew. One of the most interesting parts of learning about this war is learning how it has effected our country since.
From what I have learned, the war greatly influenced the hippie era to catch fire. Our country craved a spirit of carefree, love, drugs, peace, and in many ways an escape from this tragedy and pain of war. The war made America question our own government and how we should trust it. The war made us question the system of the draft and gender roles in general. It has been said that this war may have been one of the most significant times of change that America has ever experienced, and it seems like it may have happened overnight.
So… why did I feel so compelled to write this blog on the Vietnam war?
Well, I wanted to share a few of my reflections of what I learned in Vietnam. However, I also wanted to draw a comparison to how this process of tragedy followed by immense change is a fairly typical process.
The war- The last year and a half have felt like a war in my head. A moral stirrup you could call it. I have discovered a lot of questions. I have gone back and forth on seeing different sides of issues. I have felt pain and confusion within my identity. I have expereinced chaos in the area of how to engage with my God. In my own life, the war has been heartbreaking.
The effect- From studying the effects of the war on American society, I have learned that the war influenced significant change and newness in our country. So what are the effects of this war in my life? In my faith, I am discovering change and newness in the challenge of persevering in faith, I am learning about abandoning myself and surrendering my life and identity to Him no matter what I want. Right now, God is bringing me closer to His heart through pain.
So no I am not about to tell you that my metaphor of these two “wars” can be wrapped up nicely. No one can wrap up the Vietnam War nicely. It was an unsuccessful war. But what I am saying is… perhaps it is in the defeat. Perhaps it is in the years of fighting that tire us out to make us surrender. Perhaps we are reminded that we are small and not as powerful as we thought. Maybe it is from the “unsuccessful war” that we gain humility, surrender, and a reminder that we cannot always take control. So just as the US was changed and brought into a new phase in the country’s history, I too am being brought into a new phase in my faith history. And although things have been lost, pain has been experienced, fear has run rampant, and grief is in the process, the war scars are slowly healing. Perhaps I am on the brink of one of the most signifiant times of change I will ever experience and sometimes it takes a war to ignite it.
1 Peter 1:6-7
So be truly glad.There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
