Jan

9

Danang, South Vietnam

Filed Under Return To Vietnam 

Jan at China Beach

Jan at China Beach

Since the takeover of South Vietnam by the communists forces in the North during1975, Vietnam is now longer identified as North & South. The DMZ no longer exists. I use the terms because that is how I relate to the land. One of the first sights I encountered in Danang was a military deuce & 1/2 with US Army insignia on the door and a communists red flag with star flying from the radio antenna. That didn’t feel very good, but then the past is often hard to put aside considering the massive loss of the war.

After visiting the Cham Museum in downtown Danang, we were taken on a walk thru a Vietnamese village just a few miles from town. Seeing a village under today’s conditions was insightful, but not much has changed in the living conditions. We walked along rice patties and observer workers in the fields and water buffalo still being used for plowing and a variety of labor intensive chores. For a brief moment I experience an anxious moment as I unconsciously found myself scanning the far treeline for AK-47 tracer rounds. I took a deep breath and reassured myself that we are in a different time and it was great to be here under much different conditions. The painful past doesn’t die easily.

As we were leaving the village, our guide informed us that the Viet Cong had occupied the hamlet throughout the Vietnam War (The Vietnamese call it the American War). No wonder sniper fire, motars. and rockets plagued American fortifications such as Danang, regardless of their relatively secure environment. Next we visited Marble Mountain, a major source for marble statues and other artwork.

Before leaving Danang, Jan & I walked the sandy shore of China Beach. It was very peaceful and relaxing. After all these years I finally got to experience my first incountry R&R.

Comments

One Response to “Danang, South Vietnam”

  1. bill (ziggy)siegesmund on July 6th, 2010 11:47 pm

    i was the bar manager at china beach and appeared on 2 episodes of China beach show. We could be your friend and give you a piece of the back home world so you could keep your shitv together to get back to loving home. God bless all the vets that i could be their friend and make a difference in there lives.