The following article was submitted to the Denver Post for the April 30th edition...but didn’t get published.  This piece refers to the fall of Saigon 35 years ago, the end of America’s longest war (so far), 11 years (1964-1975), and effects of the two wars America has created in the past decade.

Viet Nam is a Country, not a War.

This April 30th will mark 35 years since Saigon fell and the American war in Viet Nam came to a close.  From my limited perspective, I feel the national psyche of America concerning Viet Nam suffers from PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Denial.  As a nation, we don’t want to remember or acknowledge the pain and loss our nation experienced from the longest war (so far) in our history (1964-1975).

At educational conferences, when teachers title a session, “Teaching Vietnam,” they don’t mean they’re discussing the culture and people of the country.  They are referring to the war in Viet Nam, the American war from the other perspective.

Perhaps spelling the name Viet Nam correctly would be a first step to recognizing the elephant.  In a language of single syllables, Viet means “people,” and Nam means “south.”  The name of the country differentiates the Viets from the Han people of the north, the Chinese.

The late photojournalist and former president of Magnum Photography, Philip Jones Griffiths explained to me, The New York Times changed the spelling of Viet Nam many years ago.  Years ago, reporters filed stories by cable.  Like a telegram, the company had to pay for each word.  It made economic sense to condense Dien Bien Phu, Ha Noi, Sai Gon, Da Nang, Viet Nam, and more.  Style manuals soon came into being, and “Vietnam,” was indelibly burned into our souls.

The original spelling of Viet Nam might create a new thinking process and develop new emotional context.  In the end, we would learn about a country and not be stuck with an emotional reaction to a single word that only describes a war.  There’s a lot to understand about the country that helps explain conditions of war.  The kind of reality we’re again missing in our current nation-building endeavors I witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From personal experience, when people know I am an American war veteran, I’m treated better in Viet Nam than in my own country.  Honest. If American veterans and their families were willing (and able) to visit Viet Nam, I believe a lot of good would come to them.  Years of anger (and guilt) would melt.  I believe they would experience a sense of peace and well being they have missed since their youth.  I feel it’s very possible they could find some resolution to the loss they encountered years ago.The Vietnamese people have always told me they don’t hold American soldiers responsible for the damage we did during the war.  They hold our leaders responsible: Johnson, Nixon, Kissinger, and others.  American veterans will not only hear this comment, they will feel it.

A photographic book I am working on in Viet Nam is, Searching for Hoa Binh (Peace), 20 Years of Photographs in Viet Nam, 1989-2009.  The title comes from the name a mother gave her baby girl that I photographed just after delivery, February 1989, in a Ha Noi hospital.  In March 2009, I looked for the mother and daughter, Hoa Binh, through television and newspaper ads in the Ha Noi area.  No one made contact.  I told a reporter friend of mine, if we couldn’t find the little girl, now a 20 year old young woman, the title of my book wouldn’t work.  My friend, herself a recent mother told me not to worry.  “Everywhere you go in Viet Nam, you’ll find Hoa Binh in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.”  She’s right. 

Still, there’s so much to learn.  Many people were touched by that war, and we all have a memory that can never be erased.  We shouldn’t forget, but in 2003, Americans did.  President Bush and his administration lied to Americans and the world, then invaded Iraq.  As a result, our own are killing themselves and assaulting each other.

I hope American students will find a way to approach the study of war to understand the cost: not simply in lives or money (devastating enough), but to the soul: of individuals and nations.  That will be difficult.  How do you measure a soul?

Lest we forget.

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