The French occupation had lasted 200 years. The wars with China had lasted, on and off, for 2,000 years. Isn’t it beautiful?” This was the monument to Vietnam’s wars with China. He said, “Here is where we commemorate our war heroes. Above the treetops I could see a large pagoda, covered in gold. He drove a little way further, and pointed out of the window. Then Niem asked me if I was ready to see the proper war monument. Was this how the city commemorated such a catastrophe? Seeing that I was disappointed, Niem drove me to see a bigger monument: a marble stone, 12 feet high, to commemorate independence from French colonial rule. More than 1.5 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans had died. It had moved me to send blankets and medical equipment. The protests against the Vietnam War had united a generation of activists in the West. Niem drove me to one of the city’s central parks and showed me a small stone with a brass plate, three feet high. Of course, I should have realized he wouldn’t call it the Vietnam War.
“You mean the ‘Resistance War Against America,’” he said. “At the weekend, I asked Niem to show me the monument to the Vietnam War.
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