Given America’s history in Vietnam, I can’t believe I am actually visiting a country and city that I read about so much during the Vietnam War. It feels odd. Yet, strangely, you would never know. At least as a tourist you would never know. There appears to be no animosity towards Americans. On the plane to Hanoi, we were the only Americans. We flew from Seoul and the plane was filled with Asians. I can’t believe that time could make such a difference. I do wonder how the Vietnamese people feel.
Our first historic sight was Hoa Lo Prison or as it became
called the Hanoi Hilton. There were no tours; you walk through and it is sobering.
What struck me was that the French held Vietnamese prisoners there earlier in
the century and then the Vietnamese held Americans. In other words, whoever is
in power in a country will have a prison and imprison their enemies. Incredibly
inhumane acts are done to people all over the world. Tom and I alone have
witnessed such prison cells in Hungary
and Romania and now in Vietnam. These chambers of horror exist everywhere and
humans never seem to learn.
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