History Friday: A Vietnam Meditation

(Posted a bit early, as I have been reminded of the anniversary of the fall of Saigon. I wrote a version of this early on at SSDB, around 2004.)

Never been there, never particularly wanted to: to someone of my age, it is Bad Place, a haunted place, where ugly things happened. It gave nightmares to friends, co-workers, and lovers for years after it dropped out of the headlines and the six-o-clock news. Today in light of the current war, it seems as far away in time and nearly as pointless as the Western Front. You look, and remember, and wonder, knowing that yes, it really happened, but really, what was the point of it all? Platoon seems as much of a relic as Journey’s End, the image of a helicopter hovering over jungle with “All Along the Watchtower” on the soundtrack an image as archaic as doughboys with puttees and soup-plate helmets, marching along and singing “Mademoiselle from Armentieres”.

But it was a beautiful place. My friends Xuan-An and Hai brought away pictures of where they lived in Dalat, in the highlands, where they married and lived with their three older children, snaps of cool, misty green pines and gardens of rhododendrons, and a horizon of mountains. Eventually, they had to flee Dalat for Saigon, where their youngest daughter was born, and Xuan-An’s mother came to live with them. Hai had left Hanoi as a teenager when the Communists took over there, his family being well to do, part Chinese, and immensely scholarly. He worked as a librarian for the USIS, and Xuan-An as a teacher of English and sciences, so they were on the Embassy list of Vietnamese citizens to be evacuated in the spring of 1975, with their four children, aged 12 to 2 years old. They were waiting at their home, for someone to come fetch them, on that last day. Perhaps someone from the Embassy might have come for them eventually, but Xuan-An’s brother who was the captain of a Vietnamese coastal patrol vessel came to their house after dark, instead. He had sent his crewmen all to fetch their families, they were going to make a run for safety out to sea, and he came to get his and Xuan-Ans’ mother. He was appalled to find his sister and brother-in-law and the children still there, and urged them to come with him straight away, and not wait any longer for rescue. They brought away no more luggage than what the adults could carry, in small packs the size of student’s book-bags, and the youngest daughter was a toddler and had to be carried herself. Xuan-An’s brother’s motor launch was a hundred feet long, and there were a hundred people crammed onto it, carrying them out to an American cargo ship, the Pioneer Contender, which waited with other American rescuers, just beyond the horizon.

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President Obama’s Iranian Hostage Crisis?

…And right in the middle of the U.S. Senate fight over his surrender of nuclear technology to Iran?

That would be both a Democratic political nightmare and a Republican political gift from heaven, and it seems to have just happened.

See the following hotlink to an Ed Morrissey piece at the Hot Air newsblog on why that is–

Breaking: Al-Arabiya reports Iranian forces seize US cargo ship, Pentagon confirms; Update: Marshall Islands-flagged ship; Update: DOD: Ship was in Iranian waters

I wonder if Pres. Obama will treat Marshall Islands regards this Iranian aggression the way he has treated Ukraine to Russia’s Crimean and Donbas aggressions.

Update:

Looks like someone in Tehran made a quick decision about which they wanted more, nukes or immediate humiliation of America —

Zaid Benjamin
✔ ‎@zaidbenjamin

#Iran has released Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris cargo ship according to al-Jazeera

Poor Optics

As we all know, Baltimore is going through some interesting times. I sat down for a bit last night and popped on the news to watch the spectacle. One thing I noticed right away was the optics. I don’t want to get all crazy about the mayor saying it was OK for the cops to let the fine, upstanding citizens of Baltimore destroy their own city. Many, many others are doing that just fine. I wanted to comment on the optics of the situation and how bad they were. Here is the original press conference from a couple days ago (the “destroy” part is around the 7.30 mark)

What is she dressed in? Why is the pastor dressed with the odd black top and leather sleeves – and what in the world was he talking about? What on earth is the guy in the hoodie with “true religion” emblazoned across the chest doing there? To say that this doesn’t exactly instill confidence in being able to handle a situation of this sort would be quite the understatement. This is the mayor of Baltimore’s inner circle?

Here is the presser from last night, where the mayor announces the week long curfew:

Ah hah. Someone got a phone call. She now has make up on, jewelry, a nice top. Guys in suits and uniforms around her appeared later in the presser. The optics have certainly changed.

Then the governor of Maryland came on:

He is in a suit, tie and is surrounded by well dressed people (i.e. adults) and a person in a military uniform. He is decidedly overweight and looks pretty bad, but that is getting a bit off track. The Maryland governor stated later that he signed the emergency orders “about 30 seconds” after the mayor of Baltimore requested it. I imagine it was before that, but whatever.

Tonight is another night, and I assume the optics of that first presser won’t be seen again.