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Here in Mui Ne we have finally found the sort of beach we have been searching for, and with it more peace and calm and cold beer. There is little to say about the place except that it is hot, sunny and chilled. We may have a go at kite surfing tomorrow, we may not. That is how we feel. We have got a very cheap room tyhe front door of which looks out past the palm trees to the beach 3 metres away. We are content to lie in sunloungers on the soft white sand, reading a novel a day and swimming in the warm sea. It is a little out of season and there is a genuine chance of rain every day, but we have been lucky up till now and have only seen one storm whilst here, even then it was whilst we were swimming in the sea. and of course out of season means it is quiet and peaceful with a welcome lack of wailing brats. But enough of this smug rhapsodising when I last wrote we were in Hue and about to visit the famous DMZ. And I should fill in the blanks as to how we found ourselves here.
Our guidde for a tour of the DMZ was the irrepressable Mr Trung who fought in the South Vietnamese Army for two years against the NVA and spent two further years in a "Rehabilitation Camp" for his troubles after the NVA victory. Even now, the fact that he fought on the "wrong" side in the american war means he is not eligible for a pension and nor are his children or relatives. Similarly, no one linked to Mr , or from the south in general, will be able to get a good job in the public sector or qualify for any welfare priveliges. But despite th cost and consequence of his actions in the 70s Mr T has carved out quite niche for himself as a guide. He seemed to delight in pretending to be blown up by a mine, or strafeing us with imaginary machine guns from the top of a wrecked American tank.
The tour was both eye-opening and informative. We visited many sites of battles as well as the ruined remains of an American firebase. The amount of ordinance is staggering. In a seriousley shot up church we visited situated within a small village a live M79 grenade lay just by the doorway next to someones discarded drink carton. Not fenced off, no warning signs very much a danger. Yet children were in the house next door. During our visit to Con Tien firebase we passed ditches beside ploughed fields in to which the ploughing farmers had thrown the RPG rounds, hand grenades and mortar rounds that they had found. In a hedge we saw a stash of hand grenades and M79 ammo left to rust and get more dangerous. whilst in the shot up ruin of the firebase bunker (after MR T had hilariously loudly thrown a rock on the floor and shouted BOMB) I picked up the ball of an M16 round and an AK47 round just lieing on the floor. Too many local people have been killed or maimed by landmines and ordinance that has just been left there when the war ended. The problem is compounded by the ready market that there is for shrapnel, shell casings and other bits of war memorabilia that the locals dig up. Whilst there we saw people digging in the fields with metal detectors and we were offered 2 US dog tags that had been dug up nearby by two little boys. They need the cash so bad they're willing to risk getting blown up.
We visited the Vin Moc tunnels too. If the US had a ring of fire bases in the area, the NVA used tunnels. In the Vin Moc tunnels 500+ people lived for more than 5 years. They are quite an engineering feat with 3 levels 48 entrances, sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, ventilation, fresh water and even a maternity room (where 17 babys were born). Under daily if not constant bombardment from artillery, mortar and from the sea peopled lived in these small thin dark tunnels. It boggled the mind. How could anyone live down there for any length of time? They surely stand as a monument to the perserverance of the NVA and the others who lived there.
The final stiking place we visited was the cemetry for the fallen 'martyrs' of the NVA. Simple grey stones with name, date of birth, date they joined the army and the date they where killed in neat little rows within the walls of a buddhist chapel. Some only recorded a name or the date of a death. It was very sad, but sadder still for me was that there are no graveyards for the south Vietnamese who were killed. I asked Mr Trung how he felt about that. He said all death is bad and that every ancestor is worshipped and reverred no matter what. I don't think he was telling me the whole story. I can't blame him for that. But I do think that creating something for the SVA would go some way to starting reconciliation of what is still a deeply divided country.
Chris
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