I just finished a documentary on PBA (or PBS for some of you folks)... and a surprisingly good one at that. The film is narrated by the child of a an ex-South Vietnamese military officer who fled the country ( with family in-tow ) in 1975 and settled in Louisville, Ky. Anyway...it is very good...and I would suggest it to anyone. A few more in-depth thoughts:
1. The story: The story told here is one of thousands. There were so many families displaced by that war...and that relocated...that it has a historical perspective...in addition to the personal. A military officer...his socialite wife...their children...all moved here with nothing, and made a life...a comfortable life...but something was missing...they left their homeland.... their homeland...their family....their world. Which leads me to...
2. True immigrants: Most who know me...know...that I lived in Asia for a time. Subsequently, I have an affinity for that culture (specifically, Chinese...but many Asian cultures share common traits...)...and some ask, " why?" . There are things that I say...a love for culture, family, nation...that resonate with me. If you watch this film...you might understand. Do me a favour...no, do yourself a favour, and watch this film...
3. Political: I'm not going to diatribe ...though I'm tempted...but there was a moment that was poignant for me...politically. You see...the couples' eldest daughter was left behind in the chaos of leaving there country. As one might imagine, this becomes a big part of the story. At one point, when speaking about this (and let me say...Asian people are not very verbose or emotive about these things ), the mom says, about leaving her daughter behind , " if the Americans hadn't abandoned us, I wouldn't have had to do the thing that I did.".
The point is this: This is relevant to today's struggle in Iraq. There are those who say we must leave...immediately. These are the same people that want to repeat the mistakes of 1975. Folks...there are consequences...both Geo-political...and personal. . Think about it.
my computer screen is dying...which keeps me from proof-reading or spell-checking...apologies.
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