I was wondering what to post to celebrate the Fourth of July and then my son sent me what I consider the most patriotic message I’ve seen in ages. (As a father, to see his son become a responsible adult not afraid to get out of his comfort zone and challenge norms at the expense of comfort, makes it a late Father’s Day gift as well.) Sure, Andy swallowed their propaganda, but doesn’t propaganda shape the way we see our world too? Andy and his sister Jackie are midway through 30 days of SE Asian fun (posting daily in our Travelers Café).
Until today, I’ve never thought of Andy as very political. Andy shares a literally life-changing experience with this inspirational post. And he shares it out of love and appreciation for our country on the day we celebrate our freedom. It’s young people who get out and understand our world that will shape the character of our nation in the future. Check this out starting with his comment and then the video clip. (Then, feel free to share any travel/parenting insights or comments you might have.)
Andy writes:
War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City
As we celebrate the birth of our great nation today, my experience a few days ago in Vietnam really made me appreciate the responsibility we all have as Americans to stay involved and engaged in the serious issues that we face as a nation today. It’s so important to remember the lessons learned from our past conflicts, and I think it’s our patriotic duty for all of us to actively question our government. So much money and so many under-the-surface interests are flexing their lobbying muscles for contracts in DC that ignore human costs on the other side of the world. The only tool we have to protect our society from these forces is our beautiful (and more fragile than we might realize) democracy. Stay engaged and vote with this little clip in mind. Happy Fourth of July!
I agree that the fed govt has gotten too powerful and expansive which invites corruption and special interest brokering. Term limits for congress would really help as well as getting rid of 90 percent of the agencies that have grown up over time to further centralize power and weaken state’s power. This extension of power includes the Supreme Court. As for flexing muscle, as Americans even in VNConflict we were not trying to steal property but help people who wanted to be democratic remain such. There were many poor approaches to that that cost US as well as VN deaths. Hence usually good idea to not fight and just allow others to live as they want. You have to ask yourself why the North so desperately wanted to force the South into communism if you are going to question US motives. Look at Korea and you can see at least some semblance of why we did what we did. Ask Taiwan how excited they are to be eyed constantly by China. Andy needs to think more globally if he is going to be more global. And by the way, men and women are in the Middle East today to defend people against aggressors. As was said by Reagan, the US has only ever asked for land to bury our dead. Yes, it seems nobody likes us until they need a Marine.
Dear Andy,
Thank you so much for posting the video of what you experienced. I didn’t know of the existence of the museum you visited.
I was born in 53. I watched the news almost every night wondering why we were in Viet Nam in the first place and who was the real enemy behind the aggression.
My draft number was low but would not have gone if called. If the VC and NVN troops were about to attack America I would have volunteered to serve my country in a heartbeat. My neighbor Jimmy came home in a box. For what?
Our military-industrial complex saw big bucks were to be made if we invaded NVN. They pressured the Pentagon to go in and the politicians agreed.
Your comment about knowing history so we don’t repeat bad decisions in spot on.
Thank you.
Jeff Griggs
Lakeland
Florida
This video needs to be distributed far and wide.
Very niec