My's Dad

During the war, My's dad was a military police officer for the south vietnamese in Hue. He was stationed there during the reoccupation of Hue after the Tet Offensive in 1968. One day, his sister went to market and never came back. She was an unfortunate victim of a bombing mission. There wasn't any of her body left to be found. My's dad filed the report himself.

After the war, My's dad was captured and imprisoned by the north vietnamese. He was brought to Saigon and put in a "re-education" camp (read: prison). His sentence was five years. But( and this earns him mountains of respect from me) he escaped after a year and a half. He couldn't register with the government to work, so he went into the illegal business of transporting and selling the bark of a rare and state-protected tree. The bark fetches a good price as a fragrant incense, but the frequent run-ins with the police meant a lot of lost merchandise.

It's hard to know how My's dad feels about the war. He is a very relaxed and sociable guy, and he only seems to be interested in drinking beer with me. I do know though, that he's not a fan of Ho Chi Minh. He feels that the government has deified Ho to ridiculous proportions, and that he wasn't really all that.

I find it oddly interesting that the only opinion My has voiced about the war was that it was a huge waste of money.