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Landing in Saigon - Fate Fairies - book version
This entry was posted on 1/23/2012 1:45 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies:Fate Fairies - book version.
The idea was sparked in preparation for Graduate School. I was taking some remedial college classes to fill the requirement to enter the Communications (Media) program at UW-Whitewater. Since my undergraduate degree was in Criminal Justice I would need a couple of Media/Journalism classed to hone up for the Comm people.
One such class was Sociology of Media (I will double check on the accuracy of the class title; perhaps it was Media and Society). Regardless, several of my classes in pre-law were in sociology. It was at this point I realized several college programs use the same dead sociologists as their guides. This particular media class was taught by one Professor Norma Coates. I liked her style and always looked forward to her lectures.
Some where, some place along the way in said media class, I was doing an essay paper about movies. In this case, Vietnam War movies. And, I must admit, I can not for the life of me remember where I got the nudge to dive into movies - myself never having any inspiration to do film or theater work. But, somewhere I got the idea to dissect Vietnam War movies. I certainly had followed 'Nam movie progression in the theaters, rentals, and purchase over the years having lived through that war era.
But, one thing I do remember. Professors often ask for a rough draft of an essay - to see if you are on the right track. Ol' Professor Norma Coates looked at my movie paper draft and said simply, "You know Bob; this is Master's thesis idea material."
She had done her job in nine words. A light bulb popped on in my pea brain.
I was off to the murky world of...., Vietnam. I expanded this movie theme several times in my travels through grad school. By the beginning of 2005, I had made plans to actually visit the country of Vietnam. Poetically, by April of 2005, it would be the 30th anniversary of the end of the "American Vietnam War."
For a trip to Vietnam, at the time I actually did have the humble resources, the time, and I had also learned the cleverness to pull it off via 35 years of blue-collar working. There was of course, all the collective myths I would have to deal with: "Why the hell do you want to go to that damn place, Bob? The Vietnamese hate Americans; the Vietnamese eat their pets; your travel will be monitored and restricted; and, you will be disappeared once you get there.
All of these notions were false of course...., at least by January, 2005.
I did a ton of research on the current Vietnam culture before the trip. In the spirit of my movie theme, I bought several dozen Vietnam War movies and watched them all. As it turned out, they were useless in regards to today's Vietnam. Of course they were all made from the "American" point of view. Some of the more useful movies were actually contemporary stories facilitated by Vietnamese directors and made since the 1990s.
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One blog posting - one book chapter vignette in no way does three visits to Vietnam and Laos justice. So, my Vietnam travel, like my Iraq travel is fodder for future and separate books. But, I will relate a couple of instances that absolutely highlight my visits to 'Nam.
With the time change of traveling to Asia, it looked to me like the Airline was pushing the limit with a connecting flight in Tokyo and I was right. It was my Christmas break in January of 2005. My flight was non-stop from Chicago to Tokyo. I then had an hour to hop on a Vietnamese Airline flight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - not enough time of course; a delay right off the bat in Chicago caused me to you guessed it..., hopelessly miss my Saigon flight.
To my stunned surprise, a cute and smiling Vietnamese flight attendant met me in the horde of people exiting the flight in Tokyo. She held a sign that said, "Mr. Keet." I had my suspicions it was actually for me so I lingered in the foyer of the terminal. Sure enough I was the only one left and we both managed to determine Mr. Keet was indeed...., Bob Keith.
Within an hour I was in a comfortable room in a hotel adjacent to the airport. And, I was staying for free, compliments of my airline. I had several hours of daylight left so I strolled down to a hilly and pleasant neighborhood not too far from the airport. I found a little cafe and had some soup and thought about the journey I had undertaken. But, the real reflection came back at the hotel as I sat in the top floor bar and looked out over the lights of the Tokyo airport. I began to get nervous.
"Would I ever actually get to Vietnam? What hurdles await me tomorrow? I am so close now."
The next day I huddled with a gaggle of Vietnamese people in the terminal waiting for our flight to Saigon. Down below us we could see the bright blue shiny plane from the Vietnam Airline fleet. Neatly dressed employees of the Vietnamese Airline cheerfully helped us toward our seats. What a contrast to the dreary war images from the 1960s and '70s.
My heart raced as the big blue jet took off ultimately heading for the country "we" had fought a war with for at least 15 years. The chow was actually quite good in-flight. The flight attendants were so nice and pretty I remember actually being a bit frightened of them.
In a few hours we were over Saigon. As we dropped down below the clouds, You could make out the roads, buildings, huts, and people going about their daily toils. It looked eerily like the war footage from the 1960s. The countyside however, was the greenest green I had ever seen.
Then rather abruptly, we were coming in for a landing at Tan Son Nhat International airport. And then it hit me.
As we landed on the old bumpy tarmac landing strip, we passed the concrete bunkers the United States military had used to hide their jet fighters in during our war there. There the bunkers were - 40 years later. A chill went up my spine.
I had arrived. Yes, arrived at the old 'Nam in my memory gleaned from living through that era in childhood and being in the military during the end of said war era. I arrived to that place in my mind...., but, via the new Vietnamese culture and its relatively modern airline and that big beautiful blue jet plane with its many pretty flight attendants and confident Captain.
The beginning of the many contradictions and paradoxes of current day Vietnam were just beginning....
...., at least for me!
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
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