Vietnam- A Striking Campaign of Colonization: Vietnam Today

• .Is Vietnam part of any global groups?

• Did Vietnam have any influence on your colonizer?

Just a year ago I was in the United States on my 18th birthday. That’s when I was pulled from my house,  and had been told to grab some clothes and go. Not really knowing what’s going on while i’m in the car I had a feeling I was going to war. Sweat dripping from my forehead looking around no one talking. It starts to poor and I hear drip, drip, drip I look up and see next to me there is a hole in the roof, as I kept looking at the roof of the car I notice the hole looks like a bullet went through it. At that point I knew for a fact I was going to war and I was scared. I remember getting onto the plane and leaving going West so I had some ideas from hearing about things on the radio about Vietnam and when I knew we were going West I had a feeling we were going there. Hours had gone by and I was missing my family more and more as each hour passed. I finally got to the destination, I could feel my heart beating as though it was going to erupt. I remember thinking about what my family was doing and the thoughts going through their heads and I was scared and nervous for my upcoming life and not knowing if I would even survive. With no one around I start thinking about millions of questions to ask them like what branch i’m in and even why i’m here, am I going to be in the war...? All that went through my head were the questions being repeated again and again and again. I start to feel something wet coming down my face and I reached my hand up to feel as what I thought was sweat but it was sticky and clear then it started to poor and I realized it was a raindrop but was like hail that had not hardened. My father told me when I was young in those days that when hail comes down and it’s not hard or frozen that there’s a spirit after you and they can either curse or bless you, his great grandfather told my father that and so I knew this was going to be hard or easy on me being here. When I had gotten off the plane I was told to just stand there until a car came and picked me up. As I kept standing there I looked over and saw a beautiful women, a women it was hard to keep my eyes off of . After five minutes of staring at her I finally had the courage to go over to her and introduce myself. When I met her she told me her name was Kim Vuong and she was waiting for the bus transportation. I waited with her until she was picked up, but as we talked for hours. I found out she is a citizen and was single. Later that night I was finally picked up and taken to a cabin. I slept for 4 hours and woke up at 4 in the morning to start training for war. None of my questions were answered and I stayed confused for a few months as I kept on training for the U.S. side. I trained for almost a year and it was hard going through that and not getting much sleep. Our schdule was pretty much wake up, get dressed in five minutes, train for five hours, eat breakfast for five minutes, train until eight at night, eat dinner quickly, do some indoor drills, take showers, and go to bed. It wasn’t the best lifestyle but at night I wouldn’t sleep. Kim and I would meet somewhere and talk. After training for almost a year I decided I didn’t want to be on the US side and that I wanted to fight for Kim and so a few months passed as my love grew more and more for Kim. I decided to propose to her the day of her birthday. I remember that day very clear through the thickness. It was almost past Mid-Night and we were in a garden that had been destroyed by the Vietnamese, I asked to her marry me and she nodded her head yes. A few days later we got married and I became a citizen of Vietnam. It was one of my most happiest of days. I ended up switching to the vietnamese side and I was treated a lot better than how I was being on the US side. A few more months passed by as I trained even more on the vietnam side and my beautiful wife Kim ended up getting pregnant. As I finally got into war it was really non-stop, fighting 24-7 was hard. Trying to stay awake. Life was hard but I eventually got used to it everyday. It  was very scary everyday not knowing what is to happen day after day. We were ruling over the US more and more and we were doing pretty well. Although the US had some good weapons and bombs, We knew all their strategies because I used to be on their side. They were especially trying to fight me because I betrayed them. The Vietnamese were nice to me but I didn’t always get the best care and stuff because I am white. I got to stay in a shack/cabin which was okay but my peasants would go to town to get me food and they would get me the supplies I needed day to day as long as I had the money. That was pretty nice, but I always wished I was with my family at home and helping my wife through her pregnancy. I was excited cause I was able to see her twice a month as I fought and so I was able to know she was doing okay and she knew I was okay. The worst day of my life came when I got a call saying my wife was in labor and I wasn’t able to leave because I was fighting for her life. I was shooting someone dead and I quickly moved because I heard someone close by and I was almost shot. That going through my head over and over after but as soon as I had the chance I shot him dead. I thought about how it would be sad if my baby never met me because I was shot and I started to feel bad. The next day I didn’t have to fight and I was able to go see my wife and new baby boy Tommy. It was so nice to see them and to know I was now a father. I felt a lot of guilt though because I shot my old teammates and I left my families side and I am fighting against them. Also I killed my main pall I trained with and I was ashamed of myself and I was happy that in exactly one year and a half I could drop out and not have to go back. I want to protect both the US and Vietnam but I don’t want to be hurt or hurt anyone else. I don’t believe wars are the right thing. Also life was tough really tough when fighting and I was drafted into the war on my 18th birthday and it’s not like I had a choice. If I did I would choose to step away. I’ve never been a warrior only a coward. I went back to war for about a month and it was the toughest time in the war so far, we started to run out of food and our shelter was being destroyed. It was a huge struggle. I finally got to go home for a week because they found someone to take my place in the war for that week. I got to spend time with my one month and one week old son and my beautiful wife. We decided to take a short week vacation to the Capital of South Vietnam and it was nice to get away. After the week passed I dreaded going back but it’s not like I had a choice. As though I thought before it was the hardest... I could tell that was the only beginning because now we only got one meal a day and half our roof was off our shelter and for others all of the roof. The one meal we got was a bowl of rice and beans and a glass of water. It was getting tough and I couldn’t deal with it. But I decided to suck it up and deal with it. A month later of finally somewhat getting used to the lifestyle and not seeing Kim and Tommy I get a call from the base saying my wife called and that she is pregnant with a girl. I was overjoyed again and hoping this time I would be able to be there for my childs birth. It was the day after finding out about the big news and I was out shooting and I was aiming and looking out and I saw it was clear. The next thing I knew was that I felt a shock in my leg and it really hurt. It was like a crap that wouldn’t go away and only got worse. I looked at my leg and saw lots of blood. I was immediately taken to a  medical tent and I was taken care of. Later I found out that a bullet went into my leg and fractured a few bones. I had a cast type thing to get it healed and fixed but I still needed surgery to fix the bones and physical therapy. I wasn’t in the war for another 11 months, instead I was doing physical therapy after I got major surgery. It was getting better but it was still pretty hard and a huge struggle. I finally got to go back to fight and I was actually excited because I think I actually have a passion now for fighting and I realized that not everything’s fair and people will die in war and I am a part of a new country and it was for the better and that’s that and it’s who I should fight for. That day I got a call and they told me my wife was in labor, I was so excited especially because I could go see her the next morning, hoping the baby wouldn’t be born yet. I fought throughout the day and it was nice to be back and we had just stocked up on food and supplies a week ago so we had lots of things and they repaired out cabins/shacks. As the day comes to an end and the war is almost over. Most US men are dead and the ones who are still alive is so little they can’t out due us and we can easily crush them. I think they are giving up soon but no one knows that for sure. I got to my cabin and under my bunk I pulled out my bag and I went through it, and I found my journal I brought. I had forgotten this whole time I was going to write in it about everything...I started thinking about it and realized my mom and dad gave it to me for my 18th birthday when I got a promotion at work and was moving out of the house and I was suppose to take the journal and write in it. Well I ended up being drafted so I lost my job. Unfortunately I am not aloud to contact my family. They know what happened and that I got married and switched sides but I haven’t talked to them in over 2 years almost 3, and i’m now 20. I decide to start writing in the journal that night and to keep on writing in it until I end the war and then send it to my family in the US so they can see what has happened. So I write about what has happened so far and I write about the day and I wrote a little about the future. As I put the journal away in my bag and push it under the bunk I nestle into bed and try to fall asleep. Until I heard a huge noise coming from the distance. It sounded like a bomb. I look out the window and see a cabin has been blown up by a bomb. Yell at everyone else in the cabin to get out as we all rush out I quickly grab the notebook, but I couldn’t find it so I keep searching my bag, and I decide just to take the bag. I start running out of the cabin door and I tripped on the front step going down to the ground. The journal as well as the bag go flying and in that instance it was too late. The cabin had blown up and I had died immediately. Later that night my wife had our baby and in the morning she was told that I had been killed. She was sobbing for days and couldn’t even see anything because her eyes were too puffed up. She took care of the kids Tommy who was 1 year old and Abby who was 1 day old. She found someone to watch her kids and she went to the battlegrounds a month later after the war was over. She was crying and running around saying “why why why did it have to be him...why why why.” As she kept walking she found a bag and she recognized it. She immediately opened it and started going through it. She found so many things of mine, but she stumbled across my journal and started to read it. She read every single journal and knew he wrote it all in one night from reading the first part of one of the last journals in the book. He also said that he wanted to send it to his parents in the US, so they could see how he’s doing. She finally got to the last journal and read it out loud, it said: