Historical Irony
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2024 11:55 pm
Douglas Mercer
July 20 2024
I live near a city which used to be American but is now called "Little Saigon." The other day I saw a primal scene which I cannot get out of my head. If one ever wanted to tell a parable about what has become of this once great nation one could do no better than this:
I was out walking the other day and I saw a homeless elderly White man with a sign. I had to ask him what it said because it was in Vietnamese. He said the sign said he was a Vietnam War Veteran and he needed help. That is this man was conscripted to fight a stupid and futile war at the behest of the American War Machine for the Vietnamese people. And now he has to walk the streets of his home begging for help and has to do so in Vietnamese---otherwise no one would understand a word he is saying.
The question becomes while he was out defending the home of another people, another race, who was fighting for his home?
July 20 2024
I live near a city which used to be American but is now called "Little Saigon." The other day I saw a primal scene which I cannot get out of my head. If one ever wanted to tell a parable about what has become of this once great nation one could do no better than this:
I was out walking the other day and I saw a homeless elderly White man with a sign. I had to ask him what it said because it was in Vietnamese. He said the sign said he was a Vietnam War Veteran and he needed help. That is this man was conscripted to fight a stupid and futile war at the behest of the American War Machine for the Vietnamese people. And now he has to walk the streets of his home begging for help and has to do so in Vietnamese---otherwise no one would understand a word he is saying.
The question becomes while he was out defending the home of another people, another race, who was fighting for his home?
