In October, an exhibit opened on Viet Nam at The NY Historical Society. It is part of my history and something I wanted to see. And so, every week since then, I've had on my list of things to do, See Viet-Nam Exhibit.
The exhibit ends on April 22, so today is the last day I can go. And I do.
The exhibit covers the US involvement in Viet Nam, 1945-75. It is a comprehensive review of a tumultuous (and sad) time in our history.
I was never directly affected by this war. But I remember the protests. The coverage. And the domino theory that helped justify our reasoning for fighting this war.
I remember:
- A boy from my hometown who came home without legs, but had a car outfitted for him so he could still drive.
- All the student protests.
- Being lucky that no one close to me was drafted. Most college students were deferred, so draftees were mostly the poor. It was not a fair system.
- Having my college close down and all finals cancelled in May after Kent State. I benefited from that because I had a broken leg from skiing and hadn't been to one class since February. But horrifying for the country that four unarmed college kids were killed on their own campus by members of the Ohio National Guard.
In hindsight, most would agree that this was a war we should never have fought. Unfortunate how our politicians don't learn from history.
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