the tragedy of war: vietnam in retrospect

Imagine there's no heaven...It's easy if you try...No hell below us...Above us only sky...Imagine all the people...Living for today...

before i flew to saigon (now called ho chi mihn), i had a hazy idea of vietnam's painful past -- its foray into communism and how vietnamese resisted american occupation. credit many hollywood movies like oliver stone's platoon and heaven & earth for my limited knowledge of vietnamese history.

Imagine there're no countries...It isn't hard to do...Nothing to kill or die for...And no religion too...Imagine all the people...Living life in peace...

my visit to the vietnam war museum, in front of the hotel where we stayed for the duration of our visit, was therefore very shocking to me. pictures of children killed on sidewalks and mothers grieving for their massacred family affected me deeply. it did not help either that there were also pictures of the after effects of Agent Orange -- the nickname given to a herbicide used by the U.S. military its warfare program during the Vietnam War.

You may say I'm a dreamer...But I'm not the only one...I hope someday you'll join us...And the world will be as one...

in these pages, i have copied some of the pictures i saw in the museum, hoping that we shall all know the extent of destruction ANY war could bring.

Imagine no possessions...I wonder if you can...No need for greed or hunger...A brotherhood of man...Imagine all the people...Sharing all the world...

if only man can be less greedy, then we could lessen the sufferings in this world, there will be less orphans and grieving families.

You may say I'm a dreamer...But I'm not the only one...I hope someday you'll join us...And the world will live as one...