We are again educated by a photo taken by Sebastio Salgado found in his book Migrations on page 345. This photo shows a Vietnamese man with two framed photographs. One of them is of him in his younger years, dressed in his military attire, and with his medals clearly visible. The other photograph is of his wife who had passed away years previous. The man's face gives the evidence of the life he has lived, full of trials and hardship. He is an older man who gives the impression to the viewer that he posses knowledge only experience can give.
In 1954 war erupted in Vietnam. This war was between northern Vietnam southern Vietnam. The north was wanting to unify the country under a communist rule, while the south fought against it, along with her ally, the United States. At the peak of the war in 1969, there were over 500,000 American soldiers in Vietnam fighting. Then in 1973 Richard Nixon ordered the American troops to come home. It wasn't long after ( in 1975) that the north took over the country making it a communist government. It is estimated that over 3 million people were killed in the Vietnam war, more than half of them being civilians.
As stated earlier, one of the photos the older man is holding is of him when he was younger in his military uniform. This photo was taken when he was in the Vietnam war, fighting against the American troops. The medals on his uniform make it obvious that he was a good solider. However, despite the fact of him being a strong solider and being on the "winning team", his face is still a face of solemnity. This face of solemnity I believe illustrates the after effects of war. The after effects of war are most often emotionally scarring to a country and its population, as I have stated many times in this blog. Even though this man was a decorated solider, and fought on the side that eventually claimed the victory, he was still suffering from the effects of war, and the loss of his wife. As there are many reasons that different nations go to war, some justified others not, I would hope that we would support our troops in whatever global conflict they may be involved in. Remember that they aren't the ones who started the war, and yet they often are the ones who suffer with the greatest emotional harm.
Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 345 Print.
Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York: Aperture, 2000. 26 Print.
"Vietnam War." http://www.history.com. History . Web. 14 Nov 2013.
Thanks for your post, I really appreciate it and agree with what you said. It's terrible when politicians will start a war just to prove a point or something, and yet they never seem to face consequences as bad as the soldiers. The amazing thing is, despite all the terrible effects of war that you mentioned, it seems like the soldiers never really complain, at least as much as they could. You're right that they don't start the wars and bear the heaviest burdens of war, yet they view it as their duty to do their best and shoulder those burdens for the rest of us. People all around the world are blessed by their sacrifices.
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