Tony Hemingweird, the underclass citizen of an America gone awry, is an antiwar author who translates the personal vendetta in Iraq into a version worse than the Vietnam nightmare: Iraq invasion instead of pursuit of alQaeda network means opportunity once in a lifetime the Triple E (exploitive elected elite) can do to achieve their personal gain. In fact, personal gain has made communism the worst ideology beyond Carl Marx’s and Ho Chi Minh’s imagination. For personal gain, Hanoi Inc.’s collective leaders have turned Ho’s hard-earned victory into a dynasty of harlotry and panhandling.
America’s leering face of wartime criminally has not started with that private first class who deserves jail term. The world has been such arrogant face long before the war even starts, in late January ’01 to be exact. Why should a PFC abuser be punished for doing what she’s been trained to do? A “poor freaking civilian” who goes to war to cover her school bills cannot make a mess of an unprovoked country – ruining America’s ideals and values.
Winston Churchill said, “Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The stateman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given he is no longer the master of policy, but the slave of unforeseenable and uncontrollable events.”
The WW II postwar alliance and the United Nations that America helped structure and systemize is dead. It died the day Pope John Paul II warned: “US victory in Iraq is defeat for humanity.” The trillion-dollar folly in the traditions of American ideals and values? The Marshall Plan, for instance – the European Recovery Program 1947-52, named after its originator, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who said: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.”
The Vietnamese did pay a dear price for democracy – political farce, to be exact. It costs a lot more for the Iraqis. Democracy is government by the people exercised either directly or through elected representatives. Rigged elections with tanks backing the polls, what kind of democracy is it? Bogus democracy means the beat goes on and on forever. History repeats itself, but it’s obviously not worth learning.
Fact is, no “miserable failure” can blunder without standing ovation; the louder the standing ovation the broader the post-traumatic stress disorder among troops making it home. The latters are those who see the real thing without clapping. Which those who think they’re doing the right thing do not see. In other words, those really at fault are the ones who sent the wrong message to the White House, who gave birth to the trillion-dollar folly. Anyway, future generations would redefine who’s right, who’s wrong. Justice may be delayed but should not be denied.
This is the story of how an immigrant underdog views patriots and politicians in America after a decade enjoying his American dream, plus his recurrence to the Vietnam dilemma, which he thought he could experience only once in his lifetime. But he was wrong. Sadly history repeats itself. Thank God in America any damaging constitutional amendments could be revoked, any exploitive elected elite could be voted out of office to enjoy life on his own, not at the expense of the hard-earning plebeian poor. That’s exactly what differs at last between America and VC-led Vietnam, no matter how sadly the twain meet.
J.G. CHETAM THANH HUYNH lives in Dallas, TX. He writes leisurely, spending time with Lot Phan, his wife of 39 years, watching TV, window-shopping, or jogging at a White Rock lakeside.
Over time experiencing the impossible dream of a Hemingway wannabe, he ends up calling himself Hemingweird instead. H.T. Tam had a collection of seven human life stories in what he called the multifaceted war entitled Saigon 7, favorably reviewed by Newsweek, July 29, 1968. Resettled in the U.S>. in 1996, he is proud to be a Texan. In Texas where he wrote Hemingweird and is working on Hollyweird. Hemingweird, starting on Chapter 2, and its sequel Hollyweird, factual and fictional, tell the life story of a Viet Kieu underdog residing in America and doing his very best to financially help the disabled Veterans on both sides of the Vietnam War.
“Maybe a pack of lies, maybe a package of facts. Anyways, no dramaturgy. America ’04 was too dramatic to dramatize,” J.G. said.
1. THE TRILLION-DOLLAR FOLLY
VIETNAMESE-AMERICANS, OR American Viet Kieu, including Nguyen Cao Ky, long to spend time in deceitful, disgusting V(iet) C(ong)-led Vietnam the very first chance opportunity knocks. Why? Whatsamatta? America no good? Not anymore? Has that Ananova.com report scared them to death? The report: Clint Eastwood told an awards ceremony, “Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera I'll kill you. I mean it.” Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary and its docudrama film maker Michael Moore will have no equals in his category for generations to come. Although the underdog Michael Moore is in no way a comparison to the Hollywood legend, he is also a national treasure. No doubt about it. He's got his work best-selling all over the world. Both national treasures are the Americans this planet admires and respects. Eventually, one should take a bow when the other happens to be the first to pass away. The fact that People's Choice Awards awarded them both means the people still believe in American ideals and values of "you do your job, I do mine. Together we make America great."
Above all else, killing has never made America great, no matter how much mainstream Americans love to "kick ass." Blame it on network TV that has become a gorefest of corrupt culture.
The popularity of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the Associated Press reported, its spinoffs, imitators and other crime or super-natural shows has made network TV home to an astonishing amount of blood 'n' guts, which has attracted little notice due to a preoccupation with sex.
Sure, Americans love to be the "guys who get the girls." And action thrillers to watch during breaks between having sex.
Reality sucks. Whoever wants a tip about killing should go with Patrick Stack's Tabs on the Toll: More than (2,000 American) coalition troops have died in Iraq, and (tens of) thousands more have been wounded. If you're looking for a more detailed breakdown of these numbers, check out ICASUALTIES.ORG, a website that provides data based on official death counts from coalition countries, including each soldier's name, hometown, unit and date of death. The names of the deceased can be viewed by time period and type of incident.
The first generation of American Viet Kieu should learn to live with nonviolence. It's a shame they don't even get along among themselves, and they could hurt each other badly for nothing at all. Hence, the hope for VK and VC to live under the same roof is not likely to happen soon. No matter how hard they eyed each other over the past half century, the Vietnamese should nowadays do better for the sake of their country. Let bygones be bygones. No healthy mind respects the Vietnamese if they don’t love each other more than any people in this world. Great countries won't prevail with internal difference of interests, including the United States of America. In his 1956 Profiles in Courage, JFK said US statesmen should put national interest before party.
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, the frail, legendary Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap said to an Associated Press interview, “Vietnam is heroic but remains a poor country. Now we have to launch another April 30 fighting poverty and backwardness to make Vietnam stronger and more prosperous.”
According to AP, Gen. Giap was the military brains behind the guerrilla war. He was known for taking risks few would have tried, often sacrificing large numbers of troops for strategic gain. On April 30, 1975, northern forces rolled into the former US-backed capital of South Vietnam, crashing tanks through the gates of the Presidential Palace and broadcasting the surrender of (48-hr) President Duong Van ("Big") Minh over national radio. That day marked the end of a long, brutal era of war that included France's surrender in 1954, ending 100 years of colonial rule.
"No other war for national liberation were as fierce or caused as many losses as this war,” Giap admitted. “Some international friends advised us just to keep the north and that we should not fight the Americans. But we still fought because for Vietnam, nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.”
Ho's version: Khong gi quy hon doc lap tu do.
The Iraqis are deadly experiencing it. Unfortunately, the Viet Kieu survivors never learned. They still ignore how precious independence is. They want the kind of freedom that puts national security in harm's way, or so the VC say.
AP: “Known as the Red Napoleon, Gen. Giap (even less than 5-4 in height) surrounded the French at Dien Bien Phu by ordering his soldiers to drag heavy artillery across rugged mountains. He caught the Americans by surprise in 1968 by directing attacks in southern-controlled cities, including former Saigon, in what is known as the Tet Offensive.
"At 93, thin and frail, his steps shaky and his hair tufts of white, he still wears is military uniform to welcome world leaders who visit him. Thousands of Vietnamese and others who request to meet with him are turned away because his health will no longer permit it, but he remains a national treasure -- the most revered figure in Vietnam after late President Ho Chi Minh."
Most Vietnamese may not admit it, but Vo Nguyen Giap is the only living folk to live according to Ho’s ideals and values.
Americans learn heroism from Hollywood extravaganzas and unreal, surreal reality shows on network TV all right. No matter how hard reality bites, Americans love to be the guys who get the gals, who raise hell wherever they go. Unfortunately, with the United Nations right in the heart of its homeland, America can't afford to be Wild, Wild West. Not anymore. Not without worldwide outcry. VC movie heroes burn in hell and still keep smiling. No brain, no pain -- like animals, that's it. And Hanoi Inc. are so proud of them.