Cu Chi Tunnels

“We are the second happiest people in the developing world” Our guide stood in front of the bus wearing a white captain's hat and a smile that seemed to reinforce his statement.  “We are so happy because we know how hard things were.  I am the youngest of 11 children.  I was born 3 years after the war ended and shared a bed with 4 brothers.  Now I have a small apartment with air conditioning, I have two scooters, two children and I just share a bed with my wife.  Every year we make more money than we did last year.  Even this year, I’m telling you the truth, my daughter learned how to make money.  She makes rolls and sells them out of our house.  Now I’m going to show you a video about the Cu Chi tunnels and it will say bad things about the Americans but if you are American, know that now we are very happy.  This is just propaganda”

The movie started off showing us Viet Cong who had been named “Valiant” or “Valiant Valiant”.  One such “Valiant Valiant” was a girl who looked about 10.  She had killed 100 US soldiers after her own father was killed in the war.  This 10 year old is the same age as our guide’s daughter who just learned how to make and sell rolls. 

The tunnels are built in three levels connecting bunkers built to withstand the bombing.  There were underground hospital bunkers, housing bunkers and even a theater bunker.  Connecting them were narrow tunnels that were dark and airless. I had to push my backpack through and wiggle after it.  Only three of our group of 60 made it to the end.

Our guide stood at the mouth of one bunker and said “If you heard the Americans coming, you could get your children into the tunnels and then stand here to shoot”  He was a young father himself and I could tell he had envisioned himself standing in that place and shooting many times.  On a wall was drawn US soldiers being killed in various gruesome traps.  They all involved spikes and the huge white soldiers had spurts of blood flying fountain-like out of their arms and legs and torso. 

Most of what I know about Vietnam war comes from Forest Gump.  But it was very real for my parents and still is real for Vietnam.  I started to weight the various losses.  I wanted to divorce myself from either the family fleeing into the tunnels or the American boy falling on the spikes.  I wanted a hero and a villain.  But I came back lacking.  It was just tragic.  All of it.  10 year olds shouldn’t have to kill and 18 year olds shouldn’t have to kill.  And no one should have to flee down a tunnel.

It is a long drive to the Cu Chi tunnels from Ho Choi Minh.  On the way you pass KFC and “American English School” you see trucks with American flags printed on the side driven by Vietnamese.  There is not universal health care or education.  The people even own land.  Driving back from the tunnels I asked our guide how the communist party affected his life.  He paused for a while and then said “They choose who we can vote for.  And…ummm…that is what they do”  He spoke of it casually as if he really didn’t care much about who he voted for.

A Norwegian sitting across the aisle from me asked, a little embarrassed, “Why did the US fight in Vietnam?”  I tried to explain the domino effect that I vaguely remembered from US history.  But the “Red Threat” was hard to really believe and she went back to her headphones pretty unconvinced. 

We all lost.  Every single one of us.  Thousands died to prevent or cause a future that is remarkably okay.  The one difference I see is that America got to go home.  Because we lost we could leave with our wounded pride and go make some bad Bee Gee movies and maybe have some big hair.  Vietnam was stuck with a country that had hosted a war for 20 years. 

Things were pretty bad after the war and our guide spoke of starvation but then he said “In the war nobody won and Vietnam lost the most.  But in the Cu Chi tunnels even 17 children were born.  It is hell to you maybe but if you live there you just live there.  You see why Vietnamese are the second happiest today.  You chose to be or not to be.”  He was still wearing his white nautical captain hat and a grin.  He then told us about his new tour business and how he can design a tour for any size group and he has arrangements with four and five star hotels to get a good rate.  He passed out cards for his business.  They were green with rounded edges and showed, even more than his smile, how great he saw his future.  He would be the CEO of a tourism agency.  His daughter would likely be a doctor and who knows what his grandson would be.  The future was so bright it was like squinting as you came out of the tunnels.  I admired him for that.