Cu Chi

Yesterday, My's oldest sister Vit, Trang and I hopped on bikes and drove up to Cu Chi, site of the famous Viet Cong tunnels.

The Cu Chi tunnels are proof of what committed human beings are capable of. Hundreds of freedom fighters lived in this extensive tunnel system (over 200km) for months at a time, totally evading US forces. They had kitchens, sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, dining halls, and even schoolrooms all dug out of the wet dirt. Air holes were disguised as termite mounds, and careful measures were taken to divert cooking smoke far from its source.

Crawling through those tunnels, i reminded myself of the time when I and four others crowded ourselves into a doghouse after a party in Newport, Rhode Island. I didn't like it then , and i still don't like it.

The tunnels were booby trapped with grisly spiked pits. Trang playfully tried to push me into them, saying "I KILL American!!" I would have hated to be one of the US Army "tunnel rats" that was in charge of flushing the Viet Cong out of the tunnels. A thankless, terrible job. Their latin motto, Non gratum anus rodentum, is apt, meaning "not worth a rat's ass".

Passing by photos of the damage caused by American bombing and defoliation, Vit made sure i looked at every one. She looked in my eyes to make sure i understood what i was seeing. It was as if she was putting the responsibility on me to make sure all this never happened again. I realize I do have some, however little, power over the ham-fisted US war machine. Much more than she does. And that small power does place an amount of responsibilty on me. Thanks Vit, for making me realize that.