Paying our respects at Son My

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Remembering My Lai

It took some real determination on our part, but Dan and I finally made it to the memorial at Son My. We took the train to Quang Ngai and stayed overnight and then drove out to the memorial site with two other travellers from Belgium. There really are not many tourists here, Son My is the only reason anyone stops - and it seems that few do. Only 4 of us got off the train in Quang Ngai, and it was really refreshing to not be hassled for once. Instead people stop and stare at you (well especially Dan) a little strangely, and little children yell "hello!". When you say hello back and smile, they all burst out laughing at you. We are pretty funny looking I guess.

We were really happy that we decided to make this stop, even though it was a little out of our way. The memorial site is really sobering. The memorial is in honour of the 504 (unarmed) villagers who were killed by U.S troops on March 16, 1968. The troops attacked and killed villagers in several different villages (including My Lai), but the memorial is at the former site of the village of Son My. The villagers were mostly elderly men, women, and children. The memorial contains a really moving statue, and the grounds have preserved the foundations of the houses which remained after the U.S. army bulldozed Son My to cover up the crime. A small museum displays the gruesome photos taken by a U.S. army photographer. When these photos were publised by Life magazine, it caused huge protests against the US war in Vietnam. Some cite the publication of the fact of the massacres in the American press as a real turning point in the war. The museum also honours a US helicopter pilot who managed to save several Vietnamese villagers from his fellow soldiers, and honours those soldiers who testified about the massacre at the court martial of Lieutenant Calley.

The memorial site is very moving and powerful. Those who know me can only imagine how I reacted. I dont think Dan and I even really spoke at all until we were through the entire site.

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Photos

house
The foundations of the houses are from the original village

house
Each foundation has a corresponding plaque informing visitors which family lived there and who was killed by U.S troops

Bootprints
All of the pathways around the village have been created to show bootprints to represent American soldiers and footprints to represent fleeing villagers

Comments

[Pieuve]

Hey Hey
Looks like you 2 are having a blast, love all the great pictures and stories. Dan you sweating off some pounds or what...?