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January 2000 Winds of Peace

Newsletter for Madison Friends’ Projects in Viet Nam January 2000 Issue #2

Going Backby Mike Boehm

The Sound of the Violin inMy Lai

February 8, 10:30 PMWHA-TV, Madison

The Sound of the Violin in My Lai, Tran Van Thuy sdocumentary about the My Lai massacre in VietNam, will be aired by Wisconsin Public Televisionon WHA-TV in the Madison area on February 8at 10:30 PM. Check your local listings or requestinformation from your local Public Television sta-tion about airing the documentary where you live.

When I return to Viet Nam this February, it will be to a muchchanged, badly damaged, Quang Ngai (My Lai) province. In No-vember and December of last year, the central provinces sufferedtwo floods, which turned out to be the worst floods of the century.Almost a thousand people lost their lives. The north-south railwaywas cut in many places. VN Hwy 1 was also cut, more than a hun-dred bridges were destroyed, and thousands of fishing boats werelost. The list goes on and on. The Madison Friends set aside funds for emergency relief; butwhen we were finally able to communicate with the Quang NgaiWomen s Union again, they had only begun to evaluate the needsof the poor people who lost their homes, livestock, crops, etc. WhenI meet with them in February, we will discuss what immediate aidwill be needed, as well as what kind of preventative programs wecan implement. Their needs will be tremendous, so we will prob-ably put out a special funding letter to raise money for flood relief. As I write this, I have only two more days before I leave for ElSalvador to help facilitate a ground-breaking project which willbring together the women of El Salvador and Viet Nam. The initialimpetus for this project was to bring representatives from theWomen s Union of Quang Ngai province and Son My (My Lai)village to Madison, Wisconsin, and then to El Salvador to discussloan funds. The women of El Salvador are struggling to make theloan funds they have set up work, while the women of Viet Nam

have had great success with their loan funds. The difference seemsto be that the Women s Union of Viet Nam is a grassroots organi-zation that has been in place since 1930, whereas the women of ElSalvador are still creating their organization. But as the various organizations involved in this project havemet and discussed the possibilities of this kind of meeting, thescope of the project has grown. We will be a conduit for the womenof these two countries to meet and explore ways to overcome theproblems they each face in their respective countries. A possibleoutcome of this first meeting, scheduled for September, 2000, isthat the women of Viet Nam, El Salvador, and Madison will be-come a steering committee for future interactions with women inNicaragua, Cuba, Bosnia and other countries who become inter-ested. Issues that could be discussed and dealt with include: therebuilding of families and communities after war and the processof healing. This is an exciting project which truly embraces theconcept of we the people . Lastly, the film The Sound of the Violin in My Lai continues towin awards and to be a powerful source of healing and inspiration.In November, 1999, this film won the award for Best Short Film atthe prestigious Asia Pacific Film Festival in Bangkok. On Decem-ber 22 and 23, 1999, the two days set aside to honor soldiers andveterans in Viet Nam, the film was shown on both major televisionstations throughout Viet Nam.

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Children at My Lai.

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Winds of Peace January 2000

Winds of PeaceNewsletter for Madison Friends’ Projects in Viet Nam“The people of Viet Nam are looking forward to the winds of

peace blowing from America.”

Mike Boehm, Project Co-ordinatorPhan Van Do, Project Assistant in Viet NamTerri Smith, Newsletter Design

For this newsletter to fulfill its potential we need yourfeedback. Please send any letters, questions, or writtencontributions to:Winds of Peace c/o Mike Boehm2312 E. Johnson St., Madison,WI 53704Phone: 608-244-9505Fax: 608-255-1800e-mail: vapp@igc.org

Visit our Web site on the Internet at:www.mylaipeacepark.com

LettersIn keeping with this newsletter s purpose to educate and promote discussion, we will print not only letters which support our

work, but also letters critical of this work. We request that all letters be signed by the writer.

Dear Mike, I wanted to write to you to express my gratitude for sending meWinds of Peace (October, 1999).˚ How appropriate it is that I amhere, in the Vietnamese governmental office I work in, reading aboutthe connections that are finally being made between people sepa-rated for so long by lack of information and distance.˚ I shed sometears as I read it, who knows why, but my Vietnamese friends andco-workers around me gave me the peace and privacy I wanted andI therefore did not have to explain anything to them, for finally,there is nothing else to explain.˚ I am here, welcomed and made tofeel at home in Ha Noi by an entirely Vietnamese staff.˚ Perhaps Ihave you and other veterans, Vietnamese and American, to thankfor your hard work and willingness to accept responsibility for thehistories these 2 countries share and to do something about our fu-tures. The angry letter printed in this [October 1999] issue of Winds ofPeace should not discourage you, just as the comments I receivedbefore my departure from the States in September have not discour-aged me.˚ You put yourself on the line for what you believe in andnow I am here doing the same.˚ I work 6 days a week for a tinysalary, and I ve never been happier and felt more fulfilled and ap-preciated.˚ I hope you will always feel the same.With peace and solidarity,Kate Garrison

Good morning, Mike Well, I received the newsletter yesterday, and I think it looksvery good. I think you did a great job on it, and I can tell that a lot ofhard work was put into it. I and I m sure a lot of other people really,really enjoyed it. 60 Minutes˚ II is going to shoot˚a follow-up to the 60 Minutesprogram, probably the Tuesday before Veterans Day. I am not surewhen it will be shown. I hope that I am able to return to Viet Namthis coming year, but do not know what the schedule will be. WellI ll close. Thank you for the newsletter. I hope you are doing well.God bless,Hugh Thompson

Dear Mike,It was very nice to see you the other day. I talked with Hiro aboutyour video. So now we are really thinking about writing a piece inJapanese to introduce the Hugh Thompson story (I read the book),your project, and the video. In Japan it is called the Son My Village Massacre, and a lot ofpeople still remember it (as just a phrase and image though), but webelieve that very little Japanese media coverage of the aftermath ofthe event has been done. And we think what you have done is in-spiring and encouraging to many Japanese counterparts doing simi-lar projects, or wishing to do so.Best regards,Yoshiko Nozaki

Dear Mike, Sorry for not writing you sooner. We are so busy these days. We enjoy reading your October Newsletter, and we appreciateyour work in Vietnam. My Lai was indeed a sad chapter in thehistory of war in Vietnam. We learned from the Newsletter thatHugh Thompson and Larry Colburn were decorated for heroismby the U.S. Army in March of 1998 for their heroic rescue of 9 or10 civilians at My Lai in 1968. But how about those 504 innnocentcivilians who were killed in the massacre? Should the U.S. Gov-ernment have any obligation toward them and their survivingrelatives? Could you do something about this? We also appreciate John Balaban s and Ngo Thanh Nhan sprojects to preserve Vietnamese texts in Chu Nom (Nom scriptor Nom character). We will spread this news to our Vietnamesefriends to ask them if they can help in any way for these projects. Do you know that there is a mispelling of the last name of thefamous Vietnamese lady poet? Her exact name is Ho (not Ha)Xuan Huong. Could you get hold of John Balaban and let himknow this mispelling. By the way, I would like to let you know that I am going toVietnam the second week of this December, along with a groupof Vietnamese doctors and pharmacists, to help as much as wecan the flood victims in Central Vietnam. Hope to see you sometime in the coming Spring in Madison.Best wishes to you and your friends in your work in Vietnam.Sincerely,Di Tran

Editors note: The spelling error of Ho Xuan Huong s namewas ours, not John Balabans! We regret the error.

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January 2000 Winds of Peace

Dear Friends in Madison Friends Meeting and colleagues in VietNam! Please take the time to read the following and share it withothers. I have identified my enclosed contribution as a portion ofmy estimated federal alternative peace tax. Let me explain. For many years I have conscientiously redirectedmy federal income tax away from support of weapons and programsof war. I have instead channeled my taxes to organizations, suchas yours, which are clearly helping to establish conditions of peaceby addressing grave social problems or promoting disarmament orpreserving our endangered environment or providing aid to thevictims of war. My Quaker religious beliefs in nonviolence and the sanctity ofall human life call me to disarm my federal income tax in thisway. Each year I calculate my fair tax share using IRS forms andtables. My letter of conscience accompanying my 1040 returnexplains that as a conscientious objector to all war I would gladlyremit my taxes to IRS if I could earmark them for the constructive,non-military, non-nuclear programs of government. This is notyet possible*, so to meet my civic obligations I pay out my fullpeace tax, keeping IRS informed of my principled civildisobedience. (Since these sums represent my tax, and are not justa contribution, I do not claim a tax deduction even if it legallyapplies.) Please understand the importance I place on having ALL myfederal income taxes help build for peace and social justice and aplanet safe and healthy for future generations. I devoutly wish thatall government budgets everywhere were so designed. To advancethat day and do my share now to help mend our broken world I amled to take personal responsibility to see that my federal taxes areused unequivocally to affirm life. I am humbled by the quality and integrity of your variousprojects in Viet Nam, and I very happily donate some of mypersonal peace dividend for your important work!

With peaceful blessings to you,Robin Harper *The Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act has been introducedinto the U.S. Congress. If enacted, it will permit people morallyopposed to war to have the military part of their taxes allocated topeacemaking.

Good Morning! I also am a Quaker and am developing a peace project in Laos.˚The project is mainly about bringing medical supplies into Laosat least at the beginning.˚ I love Winds of Peace and have sup-ported your project.˚ We are leaving for Laos next week keep usin the light.Elizabeth Spencer

Hi, Mike— Yes, I did receive your newsletter. It s splendid! Wonderfullydone. I m impressed. I d had in mind to do a monthly newsletterin 1997 and haven t gotten anywhere near the idea. I know it s aneffective way to reach out to people but seem never to have thetime or peace of mind or incentive or...all those other excuses. So,I really am impressed. It s a fine way for people to keep up withand support your vision. I was at a taping (in Ha Noi) for TV-3 Sunday afternoon artsprogram last week. This program featured the outstanding docu-mentary film directors with an audience full of university studentsand a few grey hairs like myself. The format was audience/direc-tor question and answer. I was the only foreigner and hiding in theback. Obviously your Mr. Thuy was front and center. He spokevery effectively, with dignity and verve as he told the story of meet-ing you. I hope they edit the piece to include footage from thefilms, but even if they don t, there should be good coverage ofViolin. There s mention of it in today s paper, by the way. I ll fax itto you. The article is about next year s regional film festival, whichis to be held in Ha Noi. One hundred and fifty drummers are gathered at the NationalTheater, ready to beat in the new year. They ll probably make yourears pop even way off in Madison!Warmly,Lady Borton

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Dear Mr. Boehm, I am the author of two books concerning Viet Nam, and I servedas a Marine in Viet Nam for two and one-half tours of duty invarious capacities, including the infantry and Marine Recon. I was touched by the depth of agony that was expressed in thee-mail letter by the person who identified himself as The Tyran-nosaur. There are so many that still carry the scars of that war onmind and body, and I know that I am one. I have researched both sides in this conflict for many years andfound that the average soldiers who fought against one anotherwere 90% honest blokes fighting for what they believed in, withthe main difference being that they were doing battle on their home-land and we weren t. The leadership on both sides, civilian andmilitary, lied extensively. The main difference was that theirs weresmart and ours, stupid and arrogant. Yes, what T yrannosaur said was true in some instances, butif the average American had known, before we got involved, thehistory of the French in Viet Nam and the lies and deception thatthe American government perpetrated on its own people, I wonderwhat would have happened. As a nation that is supposed to be Christian, let us always re-member that Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be calledsons of God. So continue to be so. And let me caution those thaton reading the words of T yrannosaur would judge him harshly ,for you have not marched in his boots nor felt the blows that warcan deliver. War is unmerciful and has always been so.Larry Vetters

More Letters

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Winds of Peace January 2000

The most important thing in the world is that our faithbecomes living experience and deed of life.

Norman Morrison, 1965, notes from a lesson in process for anadult class at Stony Run Meeting.

In the early evening of November 2, 1965, Norman Morrisongave his life in witness against the Vietnam War, in a desperatehope of helping to end it. Through conscience in extremis, heimmolated himself in front of the Pentagon. Over thirty years havepassed, but the memory of his devastating act still lives in manyhearts and lives. In this sense, the fire he lit has never gone out. During the year preceding hisdeath, Norman became increasinglyactive in opposing the developingwar. He wrote to our representativesin Washington and letters to theeditor, helped plan peace vigils andconferences, and lobbied in Washing-ton. I fully supported him in this, butas the mother of three small children,my war protest was mostlyrear-guard. Increasingly Norman was ago-nized by our military s immoral kill-ing of Vietnamese civilians—old men,women, and children. Norman couldnot accept the unspeakable humantoll the war was already taking onthe innocent ones, as well as on oursoldiers. He was convinced that if thewar continued it would take a heavytoll on the conscience of America.His convictions proved to be pro-phetic. During the latter part of 1965,Norman and I spoke almost daily ofVietnam. I shared his deep concernabout the war. Both of us were movedand awed by the self-immolation ofVietnamese Buddhist monks, as well as that of Alice Herz, an eld-erly Quaker from Detroit, about whom little was known to us, un-fortunately. After Norman s death, I learned that he had discusseda variety of dramatic protests against the war with a close friend.He kept all of that from me. In his daily life, Norman relied on conscience and internal guid-ance, which he sometimes referred to as the Inner Light. W ithoutit, Anne, where would I be? he said more than once to me. On the day of his death, because of a cold he was home fromwork, preparing for a New Testament class he was planning tolead at the meeting. We were together during most of the day.Around noon I put Emily down for her nap. As I was making ourlunch of French onion soup and grilled cheese, we talked aboutthe war. What more can we do? asked Norman, in a calm grave way ,sitting on a stool in the kitchen.

I don t know, I replied, I just know that we must not de-spair. Norman kept to himself the overwhelming mission he feltcalled to that day without warning. Had I known, I would havegone to any length on earth to have stopped him. While I went to fetch our six-year-old Ben and five-year-oldTina from school, Norman took Emily, almost a year old, withhim to the Pentagon. She was with her father up to the end, untilhe released her physically unharmed. It was reminiscent ofAbraham s taking his beloved son Isaac up to the sacrificial altarin an unreasonable, unconventional act of faith (as Norman hadonce called it) before an angel intervened and saved Isaac.

Emily s proximity to dangerwas horrifying. Had she been in-jured or died, it would have beenunspeakable and maybe impossiblefor me to have forgiven him. But,in a real sense, Emily s presencebecame a symbol of the many pre-cious Vietnamese children whowere victims, if not targets, of thewar. Now, years later, I have anintuitive sense of how important itmust have been for Norman to holdonto a child he loved dearly andthe family and life she represented,right up until the end. We were shocked and devas-tated by the loss of our husband andfather. Our lives were altered for-ever. It was as if a heavy curtainfell upon us, creating a Before andAfter in our lives. Much later, Ilearned how incredibly hard it wasfor Tina and probably Ben too, thattheir father left without a personalgoodbye. I believe had Normantried to do so, his impending senseof loss might well have stoppedhim.

The next day after his death I received a letter in the mail. Theenvelope was in Norman s handwriting and postmarked Washing-ton, D.C. I opened it with shaking hands, wondering for an instantif somehow the horror of November 2 had just been a nightmare,that indeed Norman was alive. It was his personal goodbye to me,written probably just before he left home. It included the follow-ing:

Dear est Anne, Please don t condemn me...For weeks, evenmonths, I have been praying only that I be shown what I must do.This morning with no warning I was shown, as clearly as I wasshown that Friday night in August 1955 that you would be mywife...at least I shall not plan to go without my child, as Abrahamdid. Know that I love thee but must act for the children in thepriest s village. Norman

Norman Morrison, Deed of Life, Deed of DeathBy Anne Morrison Welsh, Spring-Summer, 1998

Photo by M. Boehm

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January 2000 Winds of Peace

Who were the children in the priest svillage? Their story was told in an articleNorm evidently had been reading themorning he died and which he enclosedwith his letter. The article was entitled,A Priest Tells How Our Bombers RazedHis Church and Killed His People by JeanLarteguy, in I.F. Stone s Weekly (Nov. 1,1965). The article, which originally appearedin Paris-Match (Oct. 2,1965), quotes amissionary priest named Father Currien,whom Larteguy found wounded in the St.Paul Clinic in Saigon. Fr. Currien hadbeen pinned under the beams of his churchin South Vietnam, which was wreckedfrom our aerial bombardment. I have seen my faithful burned up innapalm, said the pastor from his bed. Ihave seen the bodies of women and chil-dren blown to bits. I have seen all my vil-lages razed. By God, it s not possible! Suddenly the priest burst into tears,said Larteguy. His nerves had given way .He cursed the war and its attendant hor-rors and absurdities. He railed at theAmericans in English, as if they were thereto hear him. He finally calmed down:They must settle their accounts with

God . In his letter, Norman asked me to tryto explain his action to Ben and Tina. Thenext morning I gathered them up and toldthem their Daddy had died for the sake oflittle children like them in a land far away,in a war they had no way to grasp. Mywords were a noble effort, but did not ad-dress their shocked and broken hearts. Iheld back my own tears in an effort to bebrave and to uphold Norman s sacrificialwitness. (After all, we were in the midstof a war which needed to end.) I knownow that the children and I should havetalked and cried our hearts out together.Because we did not, we remained in a stateof frozen grief for years. Shortly after his death, Norman be-came a folk hero in Vietnam. The Viet-namese wrote poems and songs about him,named a street in his honor, and issued acommemorative stamp. His sacrifice com-municated a love and respect for the Viet-namese people. Self-immolation, consid-ered the strongest possible statement ofone s conscience through suffering, is ac-cepted in the Buddhist tradition.

Emily, come with meSo when grown up you will know the way

and not be lost. Wher e are we going, Daddy?

T o the riverbank, the Potomac. What do you want me to see, Daddy?

I want you, dear , to see thePentagon.

O my child, with your round eyes, O my child with your golden hair,

Ask me no more questions, darling! Come, I will carry you.

Soon you will be home again withMummy

Washington..Twilight..O souls

Living still or having gone before.Blaze up. Truth, blaze up!

Johnson!Your crimes are piling high.

All humanity is outraged.You, the great dollar devil of our world.

You cannot borrow the mantleOf Christ, nor the saffron robe of

Buddha!

McNamara!Where are you hiding? In the graveyard

Of your vast five-cornered houseEach corner a continent.

You hide yourselfFrom the flaming world

As an ostrich hides its head in theburning sand.

Look this way!For this one moment, look at me!

Here you see not just a man with a childin his arms.

I am of Today.And this my child, my Emily, is the life

of all our Futures.Here I stand

And together with meThe great heart of America.

To light to the horizonA beaconof Justice.

You gang of devils! In whose nameDo you send B-52s,

Napalm, and poison gasesFrom the White House,

From Guam Island,To Viet Nam?

To murder peace and national freedom,To burn down hospitals and schools,

To kill people who know nothing but love,To kill children who know nothing

but going to school,To kill with poisons fields covered withflowers and leaves all the four seasons,

To kill even the flow of poetry, song, musicand painting!

In whose nameDo you bury our American youth in

coffins?Young men, strong and handsome,

Able today to release the power of natureTo bring happiness to men!

In whose nameDo you send us to thick jungles

Full of spike pits, of resistance swamps?To villages and towns which become elusive

fortresses,Where day and night the earth quakes and

the sky rocks..?O Viet Nam, strange land

Where little boys are heroes,Where hornets are trained as fighters,Where even flowers and fruit become

weapons!

To hell, to hell with you,You gang of devils!

And listen, O my America!To this anguished voice,the never-dying voice,

Of this son of yours, a man of this century.

Emily, my darling!The night is falling..

Tomight I cannot take you home!After the flames have flared

Mummy will come and fetch you.Will you hug her and kiss her

For me?And tell her:

Daddy s gone gladly, don t be sad!

Washington..Twilight..O souls

Still living or having gone before!Now my heart is at its brightest!

I burn my body.So the flames may blaze

The Truth.

November 7, 1965(Translated by Tran Van Chuong and F.G.)

Emily, My ChildBy To Huu

Photo by Eric Herter

Norman Morrison continued

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Winds of Peace January 2000

Letter to the People of Viet Nam, Fall 1999: Ever since 1965, each year on November 2, I find myself reflecting on what Norman sself-sacrifice meant to me, to our family, and to others far and near.˚ Over the years, theseremembrances have been experiences of both sadness and cherishing. In recent years, I have become more aware of the impact his sacrifice had on the lives ofpeople in this country, such as former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and the author,James Carroll, because they have stated it publicly.˚ This awareness has helped to assuagethe great loss our family sustained 34 years ago. This past November 2, 1999, my time of remembrance was somewhat lighter and morejoyful.˚ This is in large part because of the visit our family made to Viet Nam this pastApril.˚What I did not know, until I experienced it firsthand when our family visited VietNam in the spring of 1999, was how deeply Norman s sacrifice had affected the people ofViet Nam, both north and south, and how many of them still feel this deep connection withhim and with us, his family. Meeting many Vietnamese leaders and other people, andexperiencing firsthand the reverence and appreciation they have for Norman has made adifference in my heart and the hearts of our family.˚ It was deeply moving to us to hear the personal stories of what many Vietnamese feltwhen they learned of Norman s self-immolation in protest of the war. Most of all, we weremoved by the tears that came into their eyes, even these 34 years later, when they told us theirstories. It was as if Norman s act sent an arrow of love and compassion from his heart to thehearts of the Vietnamese people, and the arrow is still embedded there. It was surprising and almost incredible for us to learn that what Norman did long ago ina desperate attempt to stop the war and its suffering, still lives so brightly in their hearts. Ithink it would have surprised him, too. One of the important moments of our visit to Viet Nam was the memorial service we heldin Norman s honor at the Vietnamese-American Peace Park in Bac Giang province, north ofHa Noi. It is such a place of beauty and peace, on a hill overlooking the rice paddies and thenearby village where we later visited the Pagoda. My elder daughter, Christina, wrote abeautiful poem, Peace Pagoda, about that experience. It was important for us all to planttrees in Norman s memory, and to burn incense and pray with those who were with us. In asense, I feel that ceremony implanted Norman in the soil of Viet Nam. I now realize how hebelongs to the people of Viet Nam and to their history, even as he belongs to us and ourcountry s history. As he tried to live, so in his death he truly became a citizen of the world. The ceremony at the Peace park and other experiences on the trip also led our family tore-experience our grief around Norman s death in 1965. I trust it also helped and will continueto help us to finally accept our loss, knowing that, as Christina s poem says, a spirit lastsforever on the wind. And in many, many hearts.

A Healing JourneyBy Anne Morrison Welsh

Peace PagodaBy Christina Morrison

High on a hillthe peace dove settles at last.Let us walk togetheryoung and old.Children leading the waythrough soft green ricepaddiesup the gentle slopeto the pagoda.

Now is the timethis is the placewe have all awaited.No solemn sermonsfrom long benches,just the smiles of childrenbringing flowers in the sun.Let us burn incenseand offer prayers-a spirit lasts foreveron the wind.

Water the treewe planted togetherwith your tears.It will live 1000 yearsand bear delicious fruit.Plant two morefor all the childrenwithout fathersstanding tallreaching their branchestoward the sky.

Buddha songs driftacross the paddies.Once my country rained fireon your people.Now we walk down the hilltogether, laughing,to the temple of our friends.

View from the gazebo shelter at the Vietnamese-American Peace Park.

Continued on p. 7

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Since returning to the United States, I have spoken about our trip with groups on anumber of occasions. Everyone has been eager to hear about it, and my talks have beenvery well received. For some, learning about our trip has contributed to the healing of theiremotional wounds from the war. I am so thankful for this. Now, a wonderful thing has happened to our family. Emily and Clark s child, JesseLiam Morrison Chapin, arrived Wednesday, October 20, 1999. As grandmother, I am alsodoting on this beautiful boy! I am full of thankfulness and praise for God the Giver of Life,for Emily s great strength and courage, for Jesse s special spirit, for Clark s love, endurance,and partnership through it all, for the wonderful midwives and the staff at the hospital.And for the unseen angelic spirits that supported us through it all. I believe that the spirit of Jesse s grandfather, Norman Morrison, is very happy andproud with the birth of this strong little boy. How amazing life is, how mysterious and full of awe. And pain and joy. One thing Ilearned on my trip to Viet Nam is how little we know of the consequences of our actions.We cannot foretell the future, nor can we control it. All we can do is act out of our highestand best, with humility and compassion, and in accord with the laws of life. And leave the rest to God.Anne Morrison Welsh

A Healing Journey continued

When a little child,I knew the name Norman Morrison,

A simple Quaker man with a great heartSacrificed himself for sake of peace

To save the lives of many VietnameseAnd his fellow-Americans.

Since then, I know two Americas, two Americans: One with aspiration for peace and humanities,

One with lust of warmonger.I respect the people who love peace

And hate the war,Like most of my Vietnamese compatriots,

Like my country fellow-people,Like all progressive people on earth.

These days I had a chanceTo welcome you all (to) visit Viet Nam.

How wonderful, how happy we feltWhen thinking of the fact that

The Morrisons come home (Viet Nam).Please consider our country your home

As for it your loved one sacrificed.

He is immortal.He lives forever in our heart.

When returning to USAI want you to convey my love

And affection of Vietnamese peopleTo the people who braved their lives for peace,

To normal Americans,To Vietnam Veterans.

Please tell them to come or come back.Now my country, Viet Nam, is at peace,

Where people are open and friendly,Really ready to make friends with them.

Viet Nam needs more and more friends.Viet Nam loves peace and understanding,

Reconciliation and friendship.Viet Nam needs reconstruction of the country

To bring her people to better life.May God bless Viet Nam.May God bless Americans.

May God bless all families in Viet Nam and USA.

When a Little ChildBy Bui Van Nghi

Ho Chi Minh City, 23 April 1999

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The Morrisons plant trees for the villagers.

In remembrance of Norman Morrison.

PS: Every time I report on our trip to groups, I end with thelovely poem to us by one of our Vietnamese guides, Bui Van Nghi.It is always very moving to those who hear it. A friend who is a medical doctor heard my report a couple ofmonths ago, and asked me for a copy of the poem to give to aVietnam veteran patient who is suffering from Post-TraumaticStress Syndrome due to the war s emotional wounds. Just today I had a message from her, saying that he told her hewas so moved by the poem, he made 150 copies of it and gavethem all away at a recent exhibit of the Vietnam Memorial (a replicaof the wall bearing the names of American GIs who died in thewar) near here, in Asheville. My doctor friend was told that manyGIs deeply appreciated the poem. Thanks again, so much Nghi! The blessings continue.P

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Winds of Peace January 2000

The first issue of Winds of Peace described the inspiration for,and construction of, the Vietnamese-American Peace Park locatednorth of Ha Noi. On May 8, 1995, just days before the ground-breaking ceremony for this peace park, I traveled to Quang Ngaiprovince in the south to meet again with the Women s Union thereconcerning the expansion of the funding for the My Lai Loan Fund.We discussed the problems which had resulted from the low initialinvestment of $3,000. There were rising tensions within the villagebecause only a handful of women had access to loans, and notenough money was being generated from the interest to pay foradministering the fund. I spent the next day with the Women s Union in Son My village(My Lai), walking from home to home, interviewing women whohad received loans to evaluate the success of the fund, so I couldrecommend to our committee whether we should or shouldn texpand this loan fund by another$10,000. At the end of the day Mr.Phan Van Do, the interpreterasked by the Women s Union towork with us and someone I hadonly met the day before, turned tome and said , Mike, yesterdaywhen I read the report by theWomen s Union to you (whichstated the loan fund was acomplete success except that onecow died), I didn t believe it. Butnow, after meeting these womenand seeing how their lives havebeen changed, I do (believe thereport). At the end of the day Mrs. HoThi Hanh, Mr. Do, and I went toMy Khe beach, located a little more than a mile from My Lai. Ata table there, we went over the day s work, and I agreed that Iwould recommend expanding the loan fund. We talked about otherissues, such as starting loan funds in other villages, and at onepoint I said that I would have to leave for Ha Noi on May 10th toattend the ground-breaking ceremony for the Vietnamese-AmericanPeace Park soon to be built north of Ha Noi. Mrs. Hanh and Mr.Do began asking me many questions about this park: Why is itbeing built? What does it consist of? I told them the history of theNorth Vietnamese Army veteran s visit to the HighgroundMemorial in Wisconsin and the profound impact that visit had,which lead to the idea for the creation of a peace park in VietNam. I told them that it was not a monument to war but a green,living monument to peace. After many more questions and muchdiscussion, Mrs. Hanh and Mr. Do asked if our organization, theMadison Friends (Quakers), could help the Vietnamese people tobuild a peace park for My Lai. After I returned to Madison the Women s Union met with theprovincial People s Committee to request permission to work with

us to build a peace park for My Lai. The provincial People sCommittee agreed but stipulated they would only work with theMadison Friends, no other organization. This shows the strengthof our relationship, even as early as 1995. The Madison Friendsagreed to take fiscal responsibility for the creation of the My LaiPeace Park, and the next year and a half was spent in discussionwith our Vietnamese counterparts concerning details of the park.

On December 6, 1996, a Memorandum of Understanding wassigned by Mr. Le Phuong Tuan, Vice-Chair of Son Tinh District,representing the Vietnamese, and by myself, representing theMadison Friends (Quakers). The purpose of the My Lai Peace Park,as stated in this Memorandum of Understanding, is to provide aplace for children to entertain and a place where people can

meditate over the past with itssuffering and losses and also tohope for a better future. Visionaries like Mr. Phan VanDo and Mrs. Ho Thi Hanhrecognized the need for this PeacePark. The My Lai Memorialhouses the photos of themassacre, serving as a reminderand a warning to all of us aboutwhat happened that day. But afterleaving the Memorial, one is leftwith no hope, for humanity or forthe future. I have felt it time andagain, and I ve also heardVietnamese people express thesame feelings that there is aneed for the My Lai Memorial toexist, but there also must exist

somewhere a monument to the possibility of hope. And the My LaiPeace Park has ignited that hope in the people of Viet Nam. We allneed to feel hope the American people as well as the Vietnamesepeople. Every office in Quang Ngai province supports the My Lai PeacePark project: the People s Committees of the province, district andvillage; and the Women s Union of the province, district, and village.The Army and even the police and security officials support thisPeace Park. Because Mr. Do is also featured in the film, The Soundof the Violin in My Lai, he is now frequently stopped on the streetby Vietnamese people who want to know when the Peace Park willbe finished. It may seem strange or unlikely to some Americans, but I havefound that the Vietnamese people have a deep need for an honestemotional connection with the American people. This spirit ofreconciliation was echoed by two survivors of the massacre, who Italked to about the My Lai Peace Park. Mrs. Tong said that thisPeace Park would help their village. Mrs. Nguyen Du agreed. Ourtime is passing. We must do what we can for our children.

A Peace Park for My LaiBy Mike Boehm

The invitation fr om the people of Quang Ngai Province to help build a Peace Park for My Lai has deeply moved me. This PeacePark will be an inspiration not only for our two countries, but for the rest of the world as well, and I am honored to be part of it.Studs Terkel, Fall 1996

The children of My Lai.

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January 2000 Winds of Peace

On March 16, 1998, the 30th anniversary of the massacre at My Lai, two special visi-tors to Viet Nam, heroes to both the people of Viet Nam and America, came to the site ofthe future My Lai Peace Park for a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony. Hugh Thompsonand Larry Colburn are two of the three members of the helicopter crew who saved 10villagers during the massacre and who were responsible for ending the massacre (see sidebar). They were featured speakers at the main event of that day, a service at the My LaiMemorial, where more than a thousand people attended the ceremonies and burned in-cense for the those who were killed during the massacre. After this service, we all walkedabout a mile to the site of the future My Lai Peace Park, where Hugh Thompson, LarryColburn and others planted mango trees. This symbolic ground-breaking ceremony wascovered by film crews from around the world, including the CBS program 60 Minutes. The My Lai Peace Park has presented many challenges to the people of Viet Nam andAmerica. The site, which is mostly sand with little fertility, was chosen for the My LaiPeace Park because every bit of fertile soil is under cultivation. Soil will be trucked fromnearby mountains to cover the sand. Trees, shrubs and flowers will then be planted on thesite. Fish ponds are to be dug and paths to be laid out, winding through the trees andshrubs. There will be areas set aside for meditation, as well as an area set aside forchildren to play. In the center will be a beautiful two-storied gazebo. Probably the greatest challenge has been the paperwork. In Quang Ngai province,processing the forms and permits to build a house can take up to three years. So for anunprecedented building project like the My Lai Peace Park, the paperwork process hastaken much longer. The professional architectural drawings alone have taken a long timeto complete. But, as of the beginning of this year, the last piece of paperwork has beencompleted. Our counterparts in Quang Ngai province say everyone is eager for construc-tion to begin and that the construction will not take long. Plans are being made for aspecial ceremony to be held on March 16, 2000, to celebrate the completion of thetwo-storied gazebo. If the progress of construction has proceeded as planned, then we will be sending outinvitations for the people of Viet Nam, America, and elsewhere to come to My Lai todedicate the Peace Park there on March 16, 2001.

The My Lai Peace Park: A Vision Comes to Lifeby Mike Boehm

Larry Colburn and Hugh Thompson planting a tree for the My Lai Peace Park.

For more information about HughThompson, Larry Colburn and GlennAndreotta, read The Forgotten Heroof My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Storyby Trent Angers, 1999. It can be or-dered from Acadian House Publish-ing, P.O. Box 52247, Lafayette, LA70505 (1-800-850-8851) or via Internetat www.hughthompson.com.

Thoughts on WarBy Deng Ming-Dao

If you hold a real weapon in your hand,you will feel its character strongly. Itbegs to be used. It is fearsome. Its onlypurpose is death, and its power is notjust in the material from which it ismade, but also from the intention of itsmaker.

It is regrettable that weapons mustsometime be used, but occasionally,survival demands it. The wise go forthwith weapons only as a last resort.They never rejoice in the skill ofweapons, nor do they glorify war.

When death, pain, and destruction arevisited upon what you hold to be mostsacred, the spiritual price is devasting.What hurts more than one s ownsuffering is bearing witness to thesuffering of others. The regret ofseeing human beings at their worst andthe sheer pain of not being able to helpthe victims can never be redeemed.

If you go personally to war, you crossthe line yourself. You sacrifice ideals forsurvival and fury of killing. That altersyou forever. That is why no one rushesto be a soldier. Think before you wantto change so unalterably. The stakes arenot merely one s life, but one s veryhumanity.

Deng Ming-Dao was a Taoist monkwho lived several thousand years beforeChrist.P

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Winds of Peace January 2000Loan Fund Profiles

By William Wormsley

Dang Thi Bao is a quiet woman whose father, mother, andseveral close relatives were killed during the decades of war inViet Nam. Prior to receiving a loan from the Pho Khanh revolvingfund, she supported herself and her children by operating a smalland unprofitable trade store selling basic items such as soap. Sheearned additional money by selling alcohol produced in her smallstill. With her loan she has ventured into processing cassava. Eachday people bring her cassava root. She purchases the raw cassavaand processes it into flour. She then bakes cakes that she sells tobuyers who either consume it themselves or sell it along the road-side or in their own small shops and restaurants. She works allday, her daily profit averaging 15,000 dong (about $1.35 in U.S.currency). This return is so low that she must continue to operateher still. She hopes to receive another loan that will allow her toeither expand her cassava business or diversify into a new activity.With her increased income Bao is able to buy school uniforms andpay school fees for her children, one in fifth grade and the other innursery school. If she can raise her income even slightly, she willbe able to abandon alcohol production entirely.

Mrs. Bao making cassava/rice cakes.

Bui Thi Kim Phung is a driving force behind the loan fund inPho Khanh. She has proven to be an impressively adept adminis-trator. Her skills and energy are immediately apparent in even ashort visit to her office. Her bookkeeping performance is remark-able. That a woman of such enormous talent is available to admin-ister the loan fund in Pho Khanh is a blessing. At the same time, itis sad testimony to the status of women in contemporary Viet Namthat Phung s talent and energy, were it not for the loan fund, wouldremain essentially untapped. She is a beneficiary of the loan fundin the sense that each month s interest payments from borrowersare used in part to compensate her and meet her administrativeexpenses in managing the fund. Given the need that she travelwidely to meet women and discuss their applications, as well as toassess the performance of operational projects, she has been pro-vided with a new bicycle. It seemed to me, as Mike and I listenedto Phung report to him and Madison Friends Camy Matthay andKate Sullivan Paul, that Phung might just be the most significantsuccess story, and quite probably the greatest asset, of the Pho Khanhrevolving loan fund project. Bui Thi Kim Phung, administrator of the Pho Khanh Loan Fund.

In each issue of Winds of Peace, we would like to profile the lives, struggles, and triumphs of women who have received loansthrough the loan funds established by the Madison Friends (Quakers) in partnership with the Women s Union in Viet Nam. Thismonth we feature an excerpt of an article written for Friends Journal, an independent magazine serving the Religious Society of

Friends, describing a visit to Pho Khanh and My Lai to meet women involved with loan funds in these villages.

We talked with the administrator of the Pho Khanh fund, who explained key procedures. Women who apply to borrow funds areevaluated by a committee. Priority is given to women in severe economic difficulty and those who are disabled as a result of war. Womenwishing to initiate new businesses are given some priority over those already operating successful businesses. The administrator andloan committee meet with each applicant and then review applications at a regular Women s Union meeting. Women whose applications are successful must enter into a covenant with the Women s Union. They may use loan funds only forapproved projects. They must not use loan funds to engage in any illegal activity. They must pay interest each month. They must repaythe loan in full at the end of the loan period. All loans require a cosigner who becomes responsible in the event the original borrower isunable to repay the loan. Property, in the form of land allotted to the applicant, is often required as collateral. These are tough conditionsin a region where per capita annual income is very low.

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January 2000 Winds of Peace

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I/we would like to subscribe to Winds of Peace! 4 issues for $20 $ 20.00(January, April, July, October) Stay informed about Madison Friends Projects in Vietnam;learn more about the history and culture of Viet Nam and Viet Nam today.

I/we would like to support Madison Friends (Quakers) Projects in Viet Nam! $ ______Optional: _____ Please earmark my donation for the Vietnamese-American Peace Park

_____ Please earmark my donation for My Lai Peace Park, My Lai Hospital and

My Lai Primary School _____ Please earmark my donation for the My Lai Revolving Loan Fund

Name ____________________________________________

Address __________________________________________

City _____________________________________________

State ______________________ Zip __________________

Make checks payable to:

Madison Friends Meeting1704 Roberts CourtMadison Wi 53711-2029

Please specify Winds of Peace, Projects in Viet Nam, or one of the options on your check.

Donations are tax deductible. Thank you for your generosity.

Nguyen Thi Minh Thanh lives a few hundred meters from thebeach near My Lai. She and her family occupy a tidy home on theshore of an inlet, sheltered from the South China Sea. Previouslyraising pigs and working for the village government, Thanh at-tempted a shrimp business in 1991, although it proved too smallto be profitable. A loan from the (My Lai) revolving loan fundallowed her to expand her shrimp business to the point of profit-ability. Shrimp raising is a highly seasonal business in Viet Nam. Thanhcan raise shrimp from spring until late summer. The rest of theyear is inhospitable, bringing monsoon rains and floods. Thanh isassisted in her shrimp raising business by government extensionservices. Unlike many small businesses, such as cassava and treeraising, shrimp farming requires considerable risk managementand recurring expense in advance of each harvest. These are sig-nificant overhead costs, which are regained only if the final har-vest is successful. Weather and disease pose powerful threats toThanh s business. If all factors work in her favor, however, Thanh will realizetwo annual shrimp harvests, three months apart. Each annual har-vest, averaging 100 kilograms, is sold in bulk to independent busi-nessmen. Thanh s annual income from her shrimp business aver-ages 5 million dong (about $450 in U.S. currency). She currentlyholds a loan of 1.5 million dong from the My Lai revolving loanfund. She hopes to receive a second loan to expand her newly thriv-ing business.

William Wormsley, veteran and Fulbright scholar, is AdjunctProfesor of Anthropology at the University of the Sciences, in Phila-delphia Pennsylvania.

Loan Fund ProfilesP

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Mrs. Thanh and her husband in front of their shrimp farm.

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Winds of Peace January 2000

NonprofitOrganizationU.S. PostagePAIDMadison, WIPermit No. 1358

Madison Monthly MeetingReligious Society of Friends1704 Roberts Ct.Madison, WI 53711-2029

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W. D. Ehrhart sBeautiful Wreckage:

New & Selected PoemsAdastra Press, 1999

ISBN 0-9-938566-82-2 Trade paperback 6 x9 , 239 pages, $17Also available: The Outer Banks & Other Poems (1984, 4th

printing, trade pbk., 52pp., $7.00)The Distance We Travel (1994, 2nd printing, trade pbk., 46pp. $8.00)

Order through your bookstore, from Small Press Distribution (1-800-869-7553 or www.spdbooks.org) or from Adastra Press, 16 Reserva-tion Road, Easthampton, M A 01027 (encl. $1.75 shipping.)

What if I didn t shoot the old ladyrunning away from our patrol,or the old man in the back of the head,or the boy in the marketplace?

Or what if the boy but he didn thave a grenade, and the woman in Huedidn t lie in the rain in a mortar pitwith seven Marines just for food.

Gaffney didn t get hit in the knee,Ames didn t die in the river, Skididn t die in a medevac chopperbetween Con Thien and Da Nang.

In Vietnamese, Con Thien meansplace of angels. What if it really wasinstead of the place of rotting sandbags,incoming heavy artillery, rats and mud.

What if the angels were Ames and Ski,or the lady, the man, and the boy,and they lifted Gaffney out of the mudand healed his shattered knee?

What if none of it happened the way I said?Would it all be a lie?Would the wreckage be suddenly beautiful?Would the dead rise up and walk?

Poem reprinted from Beautiful Wreckage: New & SelectedPoems by W.D. Ehrhart (Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press,

1999) by permission of the author.

Thirty years of Bill Ehrhart s poetry has been selected from 12previous books and chapbooks, along with a section of olderpoems never before published in earlier books, culminating ina section of two dozen new poems. Many of the older poemsare here in print for the first time in a decade or more.

A hunger for honesty and a charged lyricism have alwaysmade Bill Ehrhart s poetry remarkable his own. —John Balaban

Bill Ehr hart is a wonderful poet, a force of nature, a con-science that won t let us off the hook. —Phillip Appleman

Beautiful Wreckageby W. D. Ehrhart

NEWBOOK