Happy Mothers day from Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as they now call it. Saigon, Saigon is the name of the open air bar on top of the Caravelle Hotel where I am staying. Given that it is 90+++ degrees in the daytime and about 89 +++ at night with a humidity level in the 90,s...even though there is a latin band playing here called Gato Negro....I am not about to frequent that place. As in all large cities...it is also frequented by what they call here as "boom boom" girls. Obvously, these girls are not thinking about their mothers today...but about how much money they can put in their pockets from the Americans and other foreigeners that are visiting this country. In any case...how they got the "boom boom" nickname is beyond me. I can say that they are all extremely beautiful and I can see how American servicemen lost thier hearts to these ladies of the night. Today I learned more about the gruesome history of this country. At the Cu Chi Tunnels, now a museum, the American War played out in horrifying consequences. Most of the Vietnamese that I have met from this area are missing one or more relatives from this area of this beautiful country. There were more bombs dropped here than any where else in Indochina. The Vietnamese people built these tunnels to escape the horrible bombardment from the US forces. I don't fault the Americans for bombing this area. Even women and children would walk up to a GI asking for help and when least expected, ended up dead from a hand grenade or a bayonet in the back. The US was hated so much for entering this country that it seems everyone was against them.
This area northwest of Saigon was the headquarters of the Vietcong and everywhere there were sympathizers. To escape the bombing, the people built these tunnels. There were tunnels for cooking, tunnels for living, and medical tunnels for triage. Even school was held in the tunnels for the children of this area as they hid with their families from the horrors of war. Life here in Saigon had been peaceful prior to 1965. It was a rural lifestyle full of days of farming this rich fertile land and good family life with large families helping to keep the fields tended and food on the table. Then WE arrived. Things changed forever. Today Saigon is the largest city and center of commerce in Vietnam. It had been the capitol of South Vietnam, but when in 1972 when US troops started to pull out, slowly North Vietnam took over and the city became Ho Chi Minh City named after the leader of North Vietnam. Shortly after 1975, the capitol was moved to Hanoi where even today, the rulers of this now communist nation live and rule. There is a lot of history in this great city. Saigon, Saigon is the name of a bar....but it indeed carries some poignant meaning for the people here. How lucky we are never to have needed to battle for our homes as these people have done through the years. Maybe I will go and drink a toast there to the families of so many who lost loved ones both US and Vietnamese. We all need to think about the consquences of war and conflict!
Happy Mothers day from Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as they now call it. Saigon, Saigon is the name of the open air bar on top of the Caravelle Hotel where I am staying. Given that it is 90+++ degrees in the daytime and about 89 +++ at night with a humidity level in the 90,s...even though there is a latin band playing here called Gato Negro....I am not about to frequent that place. As in all large cities...it is also frequented by what they call here as "boom boom" girls. Obvously, these girls are not thinking about their mothers today...but about how much money they can put in their pockets from the Americans and other foreigeners that are visiting this country. In any case...how they got the "boom boom" nickname is beyond me. I can say that they are all extremely beautiful and I can see how American servicemen lost thier hearts to these ladies of the night. Today I learned more about the gruesome history of this country. At the Cu Chi Tunnels, now a museum, the American War played out in horrifying consequences. Most of the Vietnamese that I have met from this area are missing one or more relatives from this area of this beautiful country. There were more bombs dropped here than any where else in Indochina. The Vietnamese people built these tunnels to escape the horrible bombardment from the US forces. I don't fault the Americans for bombing this area. Even women and children would walk up to a GI asking for help and when least expected, ended up dead from a hand grenade or a bayonet in the back. The US was hated so much for entering this country that it seems everyone was against them. 
This area northwest of Saigon was the headquarters of the Vietcong and everywhere there were sympathizers. To escape the bombing, the people built these tunnels. There were tunnels for cooking, tunnels for living, and medical tunnels for triage. Even school was held in the tunnels for the children of this area as they hid with their families from the horrors of war. Life here in Saigon had been peaceful prior to 1965. It was a rural lifestyle full of days of farming this rich fertile land and good family life with large families helping to keep the fields tended and food on the table. Then WE arrived. Things changed forever. Today Saigon is the largest city and center of commerce in Vietnam. It had been the capitol of South Vietnam, but when in 1972 when US troops started to pull out, slowly North Vietnam took over and the city became Ho Chi Minh City named after the leader of North Vietnam. Shortly after 1975, the capitol was moved to Hanoi where even today, the rulers of this now communist nation live and rule. There is a lot of history in this great city. Saigon, Saigon is the name of a bar....but it indeed carries some poignant meaning for the people here. How lucky we are never to have needed to battle for our homes as these people have done through the years. Maybe I will go and drink a toast there to the families of so many who lost loved ones both US and Vietnamese. We all need to think about the consquences of war and conflict!
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