As a nation, we honor and mourn our collective sacrifices, from a violent Civil War in the 1860s to two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, 9/11 and today’s mounting casualties at the Middle East. Each war has its inevitable killed in action (KIA), the wounded (WIA), the missing in action (MIA) and those prisoners of war (POW) captured by unfriendly forces. In modern, technological warfare, so-called “collateral damage” to civilian populations, livestock and other domestic animals, wildlife and the ecological environment earns far less recognition.
The current Iraq and Afghanistan military intervention has grown increasingly controversial. Many compare U.S. policies and strategies to the Vietnam War. The zeitgeist of Vietnam lingers to this day, with a generation of Americans holding fast to antagonistic viewpoints. Many believe that the U.S. followed a misguided foreign policy, choosing military intervention over diplomacy and economic support. Others contend that patriotism means support for any action that U.S. policy makers prescribe—and military service means carrying out orders without questioning objectives.
Victims of war should not be forgotten. For over two decades, the Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence agencies agree that no U.S. military personnel remain imprisoned at Southeast Asia. Both the Vietnamese government and U.S. officials earnestly seek out MIA leads, returning discovered remains and any new information regarding U.S. soldiers and air crews lost in action. Significant cooperation takes place within a country more than 3/4ths the size of California—essentially the size of the inhabited Japanese islands. Current MIA losses at Vietnam number in the 1,200-1,400 range. By contrast, 78,750 WWII era MIAs remain missing.
Many who fly the POW/MIA flag see this symbol as patriotic, reflective of support for America. Disregarded is the fact that over 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers went MIA in that war. Difficult logistics and the nature of guerrilla warfare created mass losses of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) combat units, often in desolate locations. American veterans groups, in seeking information on U.S. MIAs, became increasingly aware of these NVA and Viet Cong losses. Vietnam era American soldiers have shared details leading to the return of both U.S. and Vietnamese remains. A quote from the PBS website illustrates this mutual concern:
“Vietnamese and Americans Help Each Other—American veterans have begun returning to Vietnam. Many come to revisit a moment in their lives they have not been able to understand. Some, however, are returning with the intent of helping Vietnamese…try to locate their loved ones. Since 1994, the Vietnam Veterans of America organization has supplied information on the fates of about 8,000 Vietnamese MIAs. In 1998, the organization provided key maps of mass graves that U.S. troops dug with bulldozers; a video tape of the battle of Kham Duv near DaNang; and identification papers and photographs that GIs had taken from corpses as mementos. So far, Americans have helped recover over 850 Vietnamese MIA remains. Vietnamese searching for their MIAs have in turn been able to provide new clues to the identities of American soldiers by handing over dog tags and other identifying information they have found.”
(For more information, see http://www.pbs.org/hanoi/nations.htm#vnmia.)
The loss of lives and ecological damage at Vietnam and Southeast Asia were catastrophic in scale. Surely, today’s Vietnam War-inspired POW/MIA flag supporters have deep, justified concerns for fellow U.S. soldiers, relatives and citizens who gave their lives in that war. So, too, the Vietnamese mourn their losses, the enormity of which (losses estimated as high as 3.8-million people) took the very best of that nation’s “American War” generation. Such losses to humanity serve as a reminder—in the end, war is the enemy…
“Every victory is a funeral…”—Lao Tsu
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Indra’s Net
While Indra’s Net speaks to WWII and the Vietnam experience, it also speaks to the larger issue of war. War is once again the central theme of American foreign policy, and my blog welcomes earnest viewpoints and founded facts that illuminate the impact of contemporary wars and ways nations can ameliorate political and cultural differences—and defeat terrorism—short of wide-scale military conflict…Take in the novel. It’s up for discussion.—Moses Ludel
“…this ambitious novel spreads its net across the marches of history, reeling in gold nuggets of intriguing fictional action…One of the best things about this novel is the author’s firm grasp of history, especially as experienced from the viewpoint character Dinh…the comprehensive novel reads like a history book without the boring bits…An engaging, satisfying, and richly lengthy read.”—****Holly Chase Williams, ForeWord CLARION Reviews.
Featured at the New York and Los Angeles BookExpo, Beijing and Frankfurt Book Fairs…Available through all major book outlets and independent bookstores in soft cover edition and Amazon Kindle book.
