March 19, 2024

No city is more synonymous with the Vietnam War than Da Nang. A few weeks ago, was the 59th anniversary of when the US Marines landed on the shores of Da Nang on March 8, 1965.

For our young readers here is my quick synopsis of the Vietnam War.

For over 150 years there was a puppet monarchy in South Vietnam during the French Occupation. All the resources of the country benefitted France. In the August Revolution in 1945, Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese communist, defeated Japan and Vietnam became independent. However, one month later, France regained control. This intense division between North and South Vietnam continued for over 2 decades. US forces were carrying out covert amphibious operations in the Gulf of Tonkin when a highly disputed response from North Vietnamese forces triggered the United States involvement in Viet Nam.

During the Vietnam War, 58,000 US soldiers died. In total, over 3 million people, including both American and Vietnamese civilians died. (In the last decade, more than 60,000 veterans have committed suicide. This sobering statistic highlights the ongoing challenge facing veterans even after their service has ended)

I arrived in Da Nang expecting to see multiple memorials remembering the war. I did not find them. I passed by old unkept fighter plane hangars and a cracked cement runway. Instead, Da Nang has become a seaside tourist destination primarily developed by South Koreans. Chongae recognized much of the signage, especially for the many massage parlors.

The reality is that most of young Vietnamese don’t have a memory of the Vietnam War. Sixty percent of Vietnamese are under the age of 35 and 75% of the population were born after the war ended. And the elderly Vietnamese hold a much different view of the war than you and I may.

The reality is that there were only women and children left when the Americans landed in Da Nang. All of the men, actually any boy older than 16, had left because of fear of capture. Not known to the young American soldiers, the grenades that they threw into the makeshift shelters the villagers constructed only killed women, children and elderly men.

The prominent feature of Da Nang is the seaside beach known to the US soldiers as “China Beach”. Some of you may remember a popular show of the same name that was a hit from 1988-1991. This hospital drama in the fictious 510th evacuation hospital depicted the folly of doctors and nurses serving in Vietnam. Dana Delaney won an Emmy for her role of head nurse Coleen McMurphy. (what an Irish name that is!)

The reality of China beach was much different.

China Beach was a place US soldiers went to find young Vietnamese women to “relax” with. This “relaxing” produced many unwanted pregnancies, many soldiers responsible for many children. A staggering 100,000 “children of war” were born who faced significant hardships because of their mixed heritage. Approximately 50,000 of these children were abandoned, never knowing their father. This is another tragic consequence of war that many of us do not consider.

The Vietnamese have the term “bui doi” which means “the dust of life” to describe these children.

The Vietnamese no longer refer to their beach side as China Beach. The locals refer to it as “My Khe” Beach, meaning “beautiful beach”.

After spending just, a short time in Da Nang, I thought it best to catch a bus and head to the Vietnam that I remember.

To be continued…

Thanks for traveling with us…