Traveling with the Lessons and Legacies of War class over the winter holiday break, 14 students and their teachers were given a gift they’ll never forget.
“It was the most uncomfortable moment for us. We just didn’t know what to do.”
Sam Colaiacova ’19 is recalling his visit to the Thien Duyen [Benevolent Bonds] Orphanage for children who are victims of Agent Orange, the chemical defoliant used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. He was one of 14 Wabash students spending his Christmas Break in Vietnam on an immersion experience with history professors Sabrina Thomas and Rick Warner. The class studied the “lessons and legacies” of the war in both the United States and Vietnam.
According to the Red Cross of Vietnam, nearly one million people are currently disabled or have health problems caused by Agent Orange. About 100,000 of those are children. The group had read about the chemical in class and learned more about the birth defects it causes.
“But what we felt walking in and meeting the kids was very different than if we’d just read about them,” Warner says.
“We walked into a room of children, some with missing limbs, some with deformities, some in metal beds and who couldn’t move,” Thomas says. “It was awkward for about five minutes as we tried to figure out how to approach this.”
“We didn’t know what to do,” Colaiacova recalls. “They don’t speak English; some of them can’t walk.
“And then some kids approach us with a ball, and we start playing, and you realize they are just kids. Dr. Thomas said to just show them some affection, and it made them happy.”
“Somebody told me to just smile,” Wyatt Gutierrez ’19 recalls.
“For the ones who couldn’t leave their beds, the guys did a great job of just being kind and human,” Thomas says. “With the others they played dodgeball and softball. We helped feed those who couldn’t feed themselves. We were there for three hours.”
“We met a 21-year-old who was from the orphanage and was attending college,” Colaiacova recalls. “He comes back to encourage the others. He spoke English, and he told us the lesson for him was ‘don’t forget your roots.’ He said, ‘This orphanage is all I had; they’re my family.’ He wants to make sure the kids currently there have a good life.”
As the group was leaving, Warner recalls, Ma Mu’oi, the 80-year-old woman who runs the orphanage, gathered them together.
“She said, ‘I didn’t want to talk a lot about why these kids are the way they are, because I didn’t want you to feel bad. But I want you to know that you are the first group of Americans to come here.’
“That was the most moving moment of the trip for me. We ought to be able to take some responsibility for this.”
“we felt completely welcomed,” Colaiacova says. “They accepted us, even though our people had hurt them. We left hoping there would be more attention given to the problem, and we’ve taken it on as a class to raise money for the orphanage.
“But we left feeling better because of what they did, not what we did. And it was Christmas. As we left they gave us keychains with a cross.”
“It wasn’t easy to smile at first, because we do have a direct connection to what caused this,” Gutierrez says. “But I tried smiling, and I always got a smile back. I can remember every face that I smiled at and smiled back at me.”
Lessons and Legacies of War: Vietnam
Professors Sabrina Thomas, Rick Warner
Selected sites visited in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City (Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace, and War Remnant Museum); Cu Chi Tunnels; Thien Duyen Orphanage; Son My Memorial, My Lai; Temple of Literature; Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum; Da Nang; Hoi An.
Selected readings and films: Sacred War: Nationalism and Revolution in a Divided Vietnam; A Viet Cong Memoir; The Deer Hunter; American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and our National Identity; Understanding Vietnam; Good Morning Vietnam; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War; Journey from the Fall; Rambo/MIA; Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision; Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War.
Guest speakers (on campus): Larry Vaught, Vietnam Veteran; Professor Tobey Herzog, Vietnam Veteran and war literature scholar.