Children Shouldn't Have to Create Art Like This
Children shouldn’t have to create art like this.
The Vietnam War, or the Resistance War Against America as known in Vietnam, is often presented as a one-sided war. In the United States, the dominant perspective I was given at school was that our efforts were brave and pure, that we wanted to protect Vietnam from itself. In Vietnam, I have learned that the people wanted independence and the imperialists from America prevented their long-awaited peace. Each perspective has bad guys, good guys, and -- most importantly -- victims.
Unfortunately, in most cases the victims are usually not telling the story. Most often, their pain and hurt are too difficult to put into categories; to create a clear narrative with a feel-good conclusion. In the book, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, I am reminded of a quote:
“If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue” (O’Brien, 1990).
This quote stayed with me as I walked through the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The museum contained room after room of photos of the war and its remnants. As I continued through the rooms I found myself struggling with conflicting emotions. The photos on display illustrated the gore, chaos, and hypocrisy of war. How could our soldiers do this? Why did our government send them here without direction or clarity? I thought to myself. My heart broke as I read the Vietnamese descriptions for our government. In contrast to the narrative I was given in the United States, here we were labeled the aggressors, the murderers.
In the middle of these abhorrent photos, I see the victims. Civilians slaughtered in moments of confusion and anger. Weapons utilized for mass destruction without much thought for the long-term consequences. One of these weapons was Agent Orange, which was used by the United States. The military goal of the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam was to clear out the forest for a better view of the enemy. Unfortunately, there was an apparent lack of awareness or concern about other lasting negative effects of Agent Orange as it is linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects, and many other disabilities (The Aspen Institute, n.d.). Agent Orange also affects victims generationally. Many people who were exposed to Agent Orange have children with severe disabilities (VAVA, 2019).
The United States veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange experience illnesses like various cancers, heart disease, and Parkinson’s disease (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2022). The lasting impact of Agent Orange on subsequent generations was made real to me when I had the opportunity to meet an American professor teaching in Da Nang. Although he was born after the conflict, he continues to live with the physical, mental, and emotional impacts of Agent Orange, due to his father’s involvement in the war. in the United States, the Veteran’s Association is still working to provide services for veterans and their families suffering due to their Agent Orange exposure. In Vietnam, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) is an organization based in Hanoi advocating for Vietnamese people affected by Agent Orange (VAVA, 2019).
I had the opportunity to listen to people from VAVA share their mission and experiences in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is difficult to process how much of an impact Agent Orange made on Vietnam. Agent Orange is still a part of the land and still claims victims (Spurgeon, 2003). People continually have to fight for justice and freedom from the hurt of Agent Orange 40 years after the war. VAVA clearly communicated that this will be a fight that last for generations.
In an area of the War Remnants Museum, there were pieces of art created by children hurt by Agent Orange. Many of them have physical and mental disabilities due to their parents’ exposure to the chemical. The art was not all sad; it was just life after war. There were drawings of families with people missing limbs. There were paintings of fire raining down from planes onto the rolling hills of Vietnam. There were sweet pictures of best friends coloring together. But all of the art illustrated the direct effects or lasting remnants of Agent Orange. When I was 9, I painted pictures of flowers and sunlight without the burden of a war bleeding onto the page. The children who created this artwork are impacted by a war they did not partake in, but I suppose that is a part of the legacy of war.
As I stood in the museum, looking at the artwork of children ages 9 to 13, I couldn’t help but think:
Children shouldn’t have to create art like this.
Citations
The Aspen Institute. (n.d.). What is agent orange? The Aspen Institute. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/what-is-agent-orange/
O'Brien, T. (1990). The Things They Carried. Mariner Books.
Spurgeon, D. (2003, September 6). Traces of agent orange are found in food in Vietnam. BMJ : British Medical Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC193378/
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2022, August 11). Agent orange exposure and VA disability compensation. Veterans Affairs. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/agent-orange/
VAVA. (2019). An over view of Vietnam association for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin-vava. VAVA. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from http://vava.org.vn/an-over-view-of-vietnam-asociation-for-victims-of-agent-orange-dioxin-vava-89.html