Going Back to Vietnam After the War

By Thomas P. Williams | Vietnam  | one comment  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

On day 10 we departed from Da Nang for Saigon. We were given a roaring sendoff by a group of MiGs flying from the air base that morning. I wanted to dive for a bunker when we got to the airport, since they were landing when we arrived. I managed to get some decent photos of them from our window on the plane as we left for Saigon.

In Saigon we went by the old U.S. Embassy, and I was amazed at the size of it. All of the pictures I had seen did not do justice to just how big this place was. Later we went to the Presidential Palace. I felt disgust as I looked at how lavish that place was. I thought of all the peasants who were barely surviving and how the leaders of this country were living in luxury. No wonder the Commies took over. It is easy to see the amount of money wasted for this palace.

There seemed to be a lot more bikes and cars on the Saigon streets than up north. I had a great sirloin steak at the hotel and the accommodations were most comfortable. We stayed at the Saigon Star, about four blocks from the Hotel Rex, where all of the reporters stayed during the war.

On day 11 we traveled to the Mekong Delta for a cruise on the Mekong River. We started out in a small sampan through the canals, then transferred to a bigger boat for the short trip to an island in the middle of the Mekong and lunch. Our Vietnamese guide spoke five languages and told some pretty good jokes. It was a fun and relaxing trip. That night we had a farewell dinner, highlighted by a very stirring speech by the general. I knew I would feel sad when we reached Singapore and our group split up for the return home.

Day 12 was our departure day. Getting through customs was easy if you didn’t let the rude customs agents get to you.

It took about 18 hours to get back to California. The first thing we did was order a good American hamburger and french fries.

My memories of the whole trip are good. We enjoyed our visit and had to wonder what this place would be like if we had won the war. Overall, things looked pretty good in Vietnam. It appeared the people are happy, and things are peaceful. We saw no evidence of brutality while we were there, although I am sure it was different in 1975. We saw no evidence of any POWs, but there were a million places they could have been hidden away. I would like to return again with my own agenda and more time to visit with the villagers on a one-to-one basis.

It felt good to see places rebuilt and doing well that had been devastated by war. I really enjoyed meeting the people and sharing this experience with my wife. But my hopes of finding a worthwhile reason for the 58,000 names on ‘the Wall’ never materialized.

This article was written by Thomas P. Williams and originally published in the February 1999 issue of Vietnam Magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today!

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Vietnam War

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