Today was the anniversary of the My Lai massacre and we timed our visit to coincide with special ceremonies being held by the Vietnamese to commemorate that event. We arrived with a special flower wreath to present and were invited to join in the burning of incense at the memorial site.
They have a very informative exhibit there. The pictures inside are difficult to look at due to the extensive loss of life. They have reconstructed various homes as they appeared after the pillaging and burning of the village. The concrete pathways have bicycle tire ruts and footprints of all shapes and sizes (like when a kid sets his hand print in the concrete when it is still wet). However, these impressions are not for fun but rather an illustration of where the village people would have been running in an attempt to escape the bullets that killed so many of them. Each house site has a plaque telling you who lived and died there, it includes not only their name but age at time of death. There are two large stone wall encased plots with the graves of entire families, again marked with names and ages.
The most moving portion of this experience was meeting with survivors of the massacre. They are very dedicated to the site, visiting to lovingly tend the grounds and tell their stories so no one forgets.
Some of them survived because they hid in a bunker with their family or they were gone from the village fishing or farming in the outskirts. Our guide sat with us and interpreted as one special 85 year old Vietnamese lady told her story.
She spoke of how friendly and kind the American soldiers had always been to them, bringing gifts and supplies. That was why it was such a shock when one day the soldiers came in and opened fire on them. They herded them up and told them to move to over by the river bank. She was wounded, fell to the ground and survived only because the bodies of her sister and mother fell upon her. She passed out and woke hours covered with the blood of her now dead family.
With tears in her eyes, she graciously accepted a beautiful necklace we presented to her. She hugged us all and expressed in her own way her gratitude that we are now friends.
From there we went to the Hoi An Nursing home. At this site we personally contributed 135 pieces of adult clothing which were sorely needed and greatly appreciated. TOP contributions included a water filter/sanitizer, medical supplies and other items that had been specifically requested by the administrator of the home. We met with the director and staff of the home to make our presentations. Each of 20 staff members received mirrors, combs, hand sanitizer, a pen, and a scented candle. Such basics and so much appreciated by the recipients.
We had brought toiletries (tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, travel shampoo, small soap bar, and any other items we could manage) for each of the 150 residents. TOP had also brought canned milk, two for each resident.
We made the rounds of each of the residential rooms to distribute these precious items. The rooms were starkly simple but clean. Up to 8 persons shared each room which was about the size of most of our bedrooms at home.
Each resident sat on their beds waiting as we made the rounds. I spent most of this tour in the hallway handing items to the rest of our team to distribute. I was missing out on the one-on-one contact that I have come to enjoy so much. When we reached the last room, I left my distribution post in the hall and moved in to get my dose of "warm fuzzies".
I did not even make it beyond the first bed where I encountered a 90 year old man sitting silently cross legged staring off into the distance. I greeted him in English and was immediately rewarded with a half toothless smile. I sat on the edge of his bed and held his hand. He raised his other hand to touch one eye which was glossed over with cataracts as if to tell me he could not see. Undeterred, I raised his hand up to touch and feel my face. He smiled again and held tight to my hands but still no speech. He had been clutching a small bar of soap and I raised it to his nose so he could enjoy its fragrance and understand what it was. My reward was another big smile.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Gary seated on the steps just beyond the door to this room. One of the other TOP participants were in the room with me and I asked her to go tell Gary I had someone he needed to meet.
It was a special moment as Gary sat beside us on the small wooden bed and together we held this man's hands and spoke to him in hushed tones. A Kodak moment to be certain.
Finally one of the attendants came by and spoke in a very loud voice to our new friend and lo and behold he spoke back. That was how we found out his age of 90 years. You cannot truly imagine how hard it is to leave these precious people after you once communicate with them in this way but soon it was time to move on.
Our agenda on this trip has been packed and well balanced in terms of the variety of experiences. This day was no different...next we went to a dinner at which we were treated to a lesson in cooking Vietnamese. It was very entertaining as well as tasty.
All of Life is An Adventure
You just have to allow yourself to be "touched" to truly experience it,
Linda
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