No cats in Vietnam: Another myth crumbles in lobbies and alleys

30 April 2006

No cats in Vietnam: Another myth crumbles in lobbies and alleys

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/30/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Cats in Vietnam

Urban legends about old enemies
   As an American vulnerable to urban legends, I naturally anticipated finding no cats in Vietnam.  "Aren't the cats all eaten?"  If you hang around the Midwest of American enough and never talk to Vietnamese and believe all the urban legends, you should believe there is not one domestic cat in Vietnam.  I was stunned on my first day in Saigon wandering the streets and alleys when I happened on a few cats seemingly unchallenged.  Then after a day or so, I noticed that a lot of store lobbies and home foyers would have a lounging house cat laying about.  
   Now don't get me wrong.  There are animal markets that sell all types of animals for various reasons.  There are cages of live cats.  I suspect parts of these animals are used for things like aphrodisiacs.  The nature of these districts are shady.  The people often wave you off if you film.

The chosen pussies
   But non-the-less, there are the chosen cadre of cats that roam the store fronts and foyers.  People call them "meows" in a high voice.  Many people name their cats.  Again, I was socially conditioned by our American society to think cats in Vietnam were most likely eaten, but what I saw with my own eyes defied that myth.  Keep in mind all these observations apply to the Vietnam south of the old Demilitarized Zone.  I am traveling up North in August of 2006.  Perhaps cats hold a different station up there.   
   People back here in the States have smiled at me and huffed when I have showed them the pictures of cats in Vietnam.  They look at me as if to say, "alright the cat thing is a myth, so where are all the bombed out tanks and missing Americans then?"  But for my purposes the cat legend is a stunning example of simple misconceptions in action.  It's the little inaccuracies in perceptions that drive me crazy.  

Grow cat - kill rat  
   There was a time after the American War that cats were used for food, and still to this day are used for things like aphrodisiacs.  After the war it was a time of economic upheaval.  We only need look at the exodus of people from Vietnam in the years following the war to, as Americans, only get a glimpse of the social struggle the Vietnamese went through.  I am told that after the war the rat population became prolific.  The communist government in all the Orwellian flare that communist programs can muster, finally came up with a consummate Marxist slogan.  "Kill rat - grow cat."  On page 133 and 134 of his book Vietnam Now: A Repoter Returns, David Lamb gives a nice explanation and corroboration of the strange issue of the battle with rats and the Hanoi government's response to the problem.  I hope my little vignette about commie cats is at least marginally accurate.  I find Lamb's observations, experiences, and investigation to be some of the most helpful in my re-exploration of the subject of Vietnam.  The inclusion of an "attention-to-detail issue like Vietnamese cats and rats speaks to his understanding of the complex country.  

                                           Two orphans in Saigon - photo by Heide Keith

The cats that haunt the lobbies of shops seem to understand the threshold of safety - photo by Heide Keith

                                Another threshold-of-safety cat - photo by Heide Keith

Don't the Vietnamese hate Americans? The consummate question I am asked

30 April 2006

Don't the Vietnamese hate Americans? The consummate question I am asked

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/30/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Vietnam - the study of

The consumate American centric question
       Once people find out about my study of Vietnam and my visits there, their faces usually scrunch up and the perfect American centric question just involuntarily spills out their mouths.  "Don't the Vietnamese hate us?"  I can only answer that not once while in the southern part of Vietnam (I am going north in August of 2006) did I feel the least bit sense of hatred toward me.          There wasn't much of any sense of animosity of any kind.  In fact both my wife and I noted that we were not even singled out as "American."  We were just looked at as "others" in a group of world visitors that needed to be guided to local commerce and have our economic potential exploited.  We were rarely pegged as Americans unless we brought it up and then only to rather bored acknowledgment.  "Ya what ever - now let me give you a scooter ride and let me show you around town for a couple bucks please. We go now, ok?"
       In regards to the initial question of do they hate us, Americans seem to be annoyed when they find out they are not the most reviled and hated people on earth.  We must be the most of everything apparently.  Yet, in a country we battled in openly for fifteen years (1960 to 1975) and funded the French War for another ten years prior to that (1945 to 1954) (please don't split hairs over the dates) the Vietnamese seem rather over it.  At least if not they are amazing actors.  

Looking past the hate
       Perhaps I did not meet the offended, hateful ones.  Yet, my journeys are journalistic.  I take no packaged tours where all the faces are smiling per marketing necessity.  Rather, I walk the back streets - search the catacombs of neighborhoods in the old parts of the cities.  "Hello, Hello," the children always say as they smile and the adults always smile and nod.    
       Heide and I rented a motor bike and drove out to the coast near Na Trang and visited the fields that harvest sea salt.  A man ran out from his house on the water, surrounded by salt piles, and insisted we drink homemade rice vodka with him.  After we visitors honored his request he was even more happy.  It was an interesting afternoon after that. We were already lost.  And, it is already hard to drive a motor bike in a country of millions of vehicles on unregulated, unpaved streets - now enter in the fact the rice vodka got us more lost.  
       People have suggested to me that Vietnam has a lower life expectancy and the old guard is fading away.  So those that may have vehemently hated America are becoming less visible.  And, after all, it may be easier to overlook hate if one actually wins a war. 

Stand Point and Vietnam

30 April 2006

Stand Point and Vietnam

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/30/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: The study of Vietnam

   After thinking about the subject of Vietnam the War and Vietnam the country it is clear to me now that if one writes about the subjects one must be self aware.  Who am I and what perspective do I write from? This question must be understood by the writer and the receiver of the message.  It was even more evident of the importance of whose voice it is telling the story when I went to the University of California - Riverside in April of 2005 and attended a seminar on the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the American Vietnam War.  Most of the speakers were Vietnamese.  

   So who am I? A white guy in his fifties from the Midwest who just happened to be in the U.S. Army when South Vietnam came to its bitter end.  So that is the best I can do.  When I write of the events of Vietnam the war and of the observations I gleaned in visiting Vietnam thirty years after the war, it is from those eyes - the eyes of a fifty something, Midwestern, white guy, Army veteran.  The observations are only tempered by a university education attained as an older person, time spent visiting Vietnamese in American and Vietnam itself, and thirty years of blue-collar cautiousness.  Nothing more, nothing less. 

I felt forced to see Vietnam for myself

24 April 2006

I felt forced to see Vietnam for myself

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/24/2006 9:33 PM

Categories: Vietnam meets academia

You can't handle the truth 

I had heard and seen so much information about Vietnam in my lifetime by the time I was 40 years old my head spun ever time the subject came up. But I had learned something by 40. I did not have to believe anything if I did not want to. Just because you have a lab coat, a reporters ID tag, a PhD, a Hollywood name recognition, or a management title I could still dismiss you at my leisure; I do not have to buy into the paradigms you enable or are advocates for.

There is something haunting about A Few Good Men's Jack Nicolson's character. "You can't handle the truth." A professor once confided to me that old students scare the hell out of academia because we have lived the crap they only pontificate about. He actually looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice when he said it. And so it is with the Vietnam Era. It is surrealistic to sit in a class and hear a younger professor prattle on about an era you lived through. I had often been told in the blue collar world, "you have interesting observations about what you've seen in your work, life, and in the Army Bob; but, let me tell you what you probably saw." I was completely disgusted when I got to college and the anecdote only slightly changed, "you have interesting observations about what you've seen in your work, life, and in the Army Bob; but, let me tell you what you actually saw." So academic hacks and blue collar hacks are closer in smug condescension than they let themselves believe.

The war that never ends in American

By 2004 I had heard the war re-fought in arguments too many times to count. Every political season the candidates still argue about each other's opinions about, or actions during the war. I have heard so many stories about Vietnam from actual news casts during the war, friends, GIs, neighbors, documentaries, movies, and finally academia, that I was forced to go there out of 40 years of utter conflicting information fatigue.

Couple all the above with the fact that in 2003 my interest in sorting out "Vietnam the country then and now," and "Vietnam the war" had got notched up to full gear; yet, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were well under way and drawing critical analysis. The study of a former war adversary like Vietnam seemed at first not so relevant in the midst of new wars. But, as the new wars became ongoing wars, the study of a former war like Vietnam seems to gain relevance by the hour. The Vietnam War that went so long and ended so sour for the United States, and the study of the countries that emerged from that war and their status today begs analysis.

Where my interest in Vietnam got yet another nudge

Where my interest in Vietnam got yet another nudge

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/12/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Vietnam: The study there of

     After I finished my bachelor's degree one of the first classes I took in grad school was titled Mass Communication in Society.  - Nice segue since my undergrad studies were in sociology and criminal justice.  The professor was Dr. Norma Coates.

     While I was plugging away at the end of my undergraduate studies the study of Vietnam had once again gotten lost in the shuffle.  Not to mention 9-Eleven had knocked the Vietnam War off the map.  But in this class I found my self doing a paper about movies - more specifically, Vietnam War movies.  I don't know why I choose the subject, but as an older student I had learned to weave into many of my papers the strategy of "write about what you know about already - don't reinvent the wheel." 

     To my surprise, as she handed the papers back Dr. Coates said, "there is a hint of a thesis in this somewhere.  Dr. Coates where ever your academic journey has taken you I don't know whether to thank you or to cry.  The resurrection of the subject has however taken me to Vietnam twice, Laos and Thailand once, Little Saigon near Los Angles once, and now another pending trip back to Vietnam in August of 2006. If nothing else it has gotten me out of town.

Symbolic Interactionism goes to "Nam"

11 April 2006

Symbolic Interactionism goes to "Nam"

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/11/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Vietnam meets academia

South Vietnam in L.A.
Surfing the Web in grad school looking for relevant stuff on Vietnam I stumbled on a seminar being held at the University of California - Riverside, east of Los Angles.  It would be held in April of 2005 on the campus to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon and South Vietnam.   I did a quick check on Expedia and low and behold there was an airline ticket deal.  A couple hundred bucks got me out there and back.  A reciprocal arrangement allowed me to stay in a visitor's dorm on the cheap because I was after all, a student too.  A cheap rental car capped off he deal.  

After I got through a couple lectures at Riverside it was obvious it was important to drop in on Little Saigon. It is a Vietnamese district not far from Disney Land.  I had read about it before I headed out there but its constant referencing by the speaking guests validated its importance.  

Immediately I was struck by all the old South Vietnamese flags lining the streets of the Vietnamese community. It was like seeing all the waving flags on the light poles during the Fourth of July only these flags were symbolic of a country that no longer existed.  

The assignment of meaning
Then it hit me like a brick.  Those flags were assigned meaning.  It was basically old South Vietnam in exile, and just down the road from Micky Mouse to boot.  And then I thought about Dr. Lanny Neider.  

One of the first classes I took at UW-Whitewater after transferring in from tech school was Social Psychology.  The professor of the class was Dr. Neider.  He was the head of the Sociology Department - one of the perks of a small college is professors actually teach the classes (as opposed to teaching assistants) and as I found out the department heads do as well.  He was salty, well traveled in academic politics, insisted on knowing why things ticked, insisted on knowing how real life applied to the "crap" (his words) we were studying, and probably should be described as old school.  

Dr. Neider's attack of the subject of social psychology came from the perspective of Symbolic Interactionism.  Basically in a nutshell - the assignment of meaning.  I am mindful of a communication theory class I took in grad school that also discussed Symbolic Interactionism.   It is poetic that both the fields of sociology and communication use the same dead theorists as their base.  So sociology as an undergraduate pursuit and communication as a graduate endeavor was not all that big of a leap of faith after all.  But I digress.

The symbols still linger
So there it was, thirty years later and the symbols of the Vietnam War still had meaning to the Vietnamese in America.  And for America as a whole all the symbols and signs we assign the Vietnam era have meaning as well? - The Huey helicopter, the scenes of dense jungle, the GIs ducking behind olive drab sand bags to avoid a stray bullet during a skirmish between the Americans and the ever phantom Viet Cong, the jets strafing with napalm, and the evacuation of Saigon in April of 1975. Many of these images are standard backdrop in the templates of around a hundred Vietnam War movies from 1968 to present.  A neigbor of mine flies his Vietnam Veteran's of America flag under his American flag on the pole in front of his house.  The V.V.A. flag looks a great deal like the old South Vietnamese flag.  Using the L.A. model, a piece of old South Vietnam is just a couple streets over from mine here in my small town in Wisconsin. 

So Dr. Neider you connected the dots in retrospect.  I told Dr. Neider as he was teaching his last class before retirement from the university that it was as shame a guy like him was leaving.  He almost seemed to have a perturbed look on his face at the notion someone might think he should stay.  "Look," he said.  "I've been in college for 35 years, I'm headed up north to try some blue-collar stuff."  I hope you made it Dr. Neider. 

Another Writing Dedication - John Galligan

10 April 2006

Another Writing Dedication - John Galligan

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/10/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Writing Inspirations

     John Galligan taught the Creative Writing II class I took at Madison Area Technical College.  As far as I know he is still teaching there.  That particular class was the only class I took in the spring of 2001.  It was all I could do to take the one class because my wife and I were taking care of my mother who was in the end stages of cancer.  Anyway, I made the arrangements to get away from the twenty-four hour care vigil to escape to some writing.  I had also exhausted just about every writing and sociology class I could take in tech school before moving on to a university.  

     Mr. Galligan impressed upon us the idea that the biggest part of writing a thoughtful piece is "process."  Now in retrospect I figure for me, about 90 percent of my writing involves the trial and error process.  Thank God this Web site and blog allows me to go back in and correct spelling and grammar after publication.  Keep in mind I was 45 years old at the time of the class.  It struck me that before I took that class, I never conceived the time process involved in writing an article or story.  That I think, is the sign of a good class and instructor - being able to plant some new stuff in an old head.  I think half a good story or article is the honing of the idea and having it roll around in your head for weeks - even months.  I have since noticed that process is everywhere.  Years later we would rebuild a house.  When is the last time you saw a house rebuilt in one day? - no, it took several months of process from idea to completion to living in the finished product.  

     Mr. Galligan required us to present our writings in a round table setting.  Another student would read our work out loud to the group.  We as the writers, were not allowed to speak as we first heard our work in another voice other than our own.  Then, we were also to remain silent as the class proceeded to deconstructed our little master pieces before us.  Althought Mr. Galligan insisted on us being respectful and polite to each others' work, after the first week the anxiety and complaints flew about ad nauseam.  Mr. Galligan just smiled and said, "Hey, would you guys rather have this painful criticism of your work done for the first time at your future employer, or would you rather get used to it now where it will likely be forgotten shortly after this semester."

     Great point Mr. Galligan.  I hope your pursuits outside of academia in the literary world come to fruition. 

Where my interest in Vietnam got revived

7 April 2006

Where my interest in Vietnam got revived

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/7/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Vietnam the study of, travel blog, Vietnam, Vietnam never ends

A haunting reality
     While attending classes at Madison Area Technical College in the fall of 1998 I came across a new class offering - a history class about America's Vietnam War.  Having been in the Army in Germany when Saigon and South Vietnam surrendered in 1975, the subject always haunted me.  By 1998 Hollywood had re-fought the war in nearly one hundred movies.  Every political election we Americans re-fought the war in the campaigns.  Every time we thought about military action somewhere in the world we re-debated the wisdom of the Vietnam War.  I did not know what to think anymore.  I was drawn to the class like a moth to a porch light. 

     The instructor was a guy named Jim Roseberry.  I was immediately put at ease by him.  When I asked him about the class before hand he simply said, "welcome."  I was then struck by his methodical, calm pursuit of the saga as he started with some ancient history of Vietnam and then brought the class slowly forward from World War II.  

Gestating a reality
     I later interviewed Mr. Roseberry about his new class for the school news paper - he mostly constructed the class curriculum himself - it was his creation.  "Why did you take so many years to take on the subject?" I asked.  He smiled slightly, paused and said, "being in the military during the war and in the county of Vietnam during the war I had to let it all gestate."  

     And  he was right.  Gestation was an odd but appropriate description.  The class pulled together 15 years of the American Vietnam War that were disjointed in my memory.  My war, the era that touched me was 1975.  Yet I knew there was more to the story.  A neighboring farm kid had died over there in 1967 or so.  Another one who served over there came to our grade school to talk about his experience.  That must have been around the same time.  Little did I know six years later I would be in the Army and the War had taken on yet another dynamic. 

     Five U.S. presidents or more, millions of soldiers, and millions of civilians were touched by the war that lasted so long and each year of it had a different signature of timbre.  No wonder many of us so many decades later still could not understand the war.  
   
The living war
     In 1998 when I asked Mr. Roseberry about how we attach Vietnam to other military conflicts, he quietly said, "Vietnam is a living history."  Never was so prophetic a statement made now that I reflect on the Iraq War now in its fourth year.  

     In the summer of 2005 I looked up Mr. Roseberry to consult him on my then graduate study of the subject of Vietnam.  I had been to Saigon in January of 2005 and was to go back again in August of 2005 this time to more locations. He seemed pleased and excited for me and my continued quest. 

    Here's to you Mr. Roseberry.  Your guidance helped revitalize my interest in my own life's touching of the complicated subject. Your own quest for clarity inspired me to continue with the study of the complex subject.  And finally, I am glad you yourself got a chance to get back over there and continue your journey with the "living history" of Vietnam.

More Writing Dedication - Mike Irwin

6 April 2006

More Writing Dedication - Mike Irwin
Posted by Bob Keith at 4/6/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: Writing Inspirations

     Thinking in tech school I might like to explore journalism, I took a feature writing class.  The problem with tech school (especially a large tech school) as an older student, is it is like being a kid in a candy store.  I started taking classes in several fields.  So much for being focused as an old dude (another urban myth). 

    Anyway, the instructor was a salty guy named Mike Irwin.  He was a seasoned writer and it sounded like he had some type of farm or farmette.  He would ride an old motorcycle to a creative writing class I also took with him.  

     In the feature writing class us students were all excited to write our master pieces.  However, no one seemed to know when to shut up on paper.  Frustrated with our long winded stories, Mr. Irwin passed to each of us a business card.  "Now," he said. "Write your next story on the back of this card."  He also said in response to people that just could never seem to finish a story, "you just got to know when to quit moving comas and sentences around."  

     In the spirit of efficiency and economy of words in writing, here's to you Mike.

Writing Dedication - Bob Brien

5 April 2006

Writing Dedication - Bob Brien

Posted by Bob Keith at 4/5/2006 1:30 AM 

Categories: writing inspiration

My English 101 Instructor at Madison Area Technical College (they are called Instructors at tech school) was a guy named Bob Brien.  Enthused for writing by his determination to instill some notion of good taste in our writing, I asked him if I could read some of his work.  "I've never written anything," Mr. Brien said.  "Why not," I asked rather taken aback.  "- Never had anything to say," he said, and then a bit of a smile could just barely be detected on his ruddy Upper Peninsula face.  

I think in my struggling ability to understand unwritten and colloquial communication, Mr. Brien had just thrown me the old caveat of, "If you ain't got nothing good to say, you might want to explore keeping your pie-whole shut."  Here's to you Mr. Brien.  I always seem to remember your thought on the issue of written necessity just about the time I am about to write something.