3 ms·
I've always known that, yes. Yet, as an Italian kid of the 80s I've been raised by American and American-influenced media way more that I would like to admit.
by camillomiller 5y ago
I've always known that, yes. Yet, as an Italian kid of the 80s I've been raised by American and American-influenced media way more that I would like to admit.
I knew the US were wrong, but there was still a disconnect between that and the depiction of the American War (as they call it in Vietnam) I took as "standard" for so long.
My wake up call was 2017, during the first of a few trips to Vietnam. The War museum in Saigon is impressive. Despite having known qiute a bit about the conflict, for example, I had never heard of My Lai. Boy, that was hard to watch. I also was not aware of Cu Chi.
I'm surprised I didn't get to see pictures from Le Minh Truong in Vietnam, or maybe I did, and I didn't recognize their power back then?
There's also an easy language barrier, as this part of history is mostly told in languages different from the ones I speak.
- sandworm101 5y agoYou hadn't heard of Mi Lai? That's like know about the Iraq war but not Abu Ghraib, the war on terror but not Gitmo. If I had to list things to know about the Vietnam war, Mi Lai would be in the top five. If people are hearing about the Vietnam war, but not that part, then American media indeed has problems communicating history.
- camillomiller 5y agoConsider that in Italian high school study plans, history "stops" at WW2, sometimes right after. I never got exposed to the Vietnam War as a history topic, and I've got my information like many others in my generation in Italy mostly from Rambo movies. Want another one? I had no idea Nixon bombed Cambodia secretly for five years until I visited Cambodia, also in 2017, and visited the landmine museum near Seam Reap.