Rambo = Superman?

Had my birthday yesterday and my in-laws' check brought a manicure and pedicure into my near future. In south King County, the proprietors are mostly SE Asian at all the local nail salons. I popped into one near our Lowe's thinking "how much business would be attracted here for this service?" I can't see my local contractor coming in for a nail fill and polish change, eyebrow wax or "manscaping", but I digress...

We got into the business of my raggedy toes and the tech asked if I wanted to watch a movie. I asked her which of the movies was her favorite and she said "RAMBO." I shrugged, never seen it, heard it was really violent and asked her "Are you a Stallone fan?" She replied, "It has great picture of Viet Nam and surrounding lands." Cinematography? OK, I'm in. She started the movie and yes, it is horrifically violent. Since we were the only two people in the salon, I asked her if the depiction of the actions of the Viet Cong army was accurate as far as she knew. she nodded and said "I saw it as a child. We hid in rice paddies, the jungle, tunnels and caves."

At that point, I ventured that I was sure we had made munerous mistakes and that I didn't think we were right in most military decisions. We delved into the most fascinating conversation about politics, American policy in Viet Nam and the way the Vietnamese see the Rambo character similar to our concept of the hero in a Western or Superman. It is depicted as they WISH it would have turned out - with "an army of one" of the rescuers staying after his tour was over to disseminate who was telling the truth, who was helping the Vietnamese and who was blatantly lying to the world powers and wreaking vengeance on the perps. I'm sure there were those that did and were forsaken by their government and considered lost in more ways than one by their families.

The people were never sure of the intention of Americans they encountered because some had been ambushed by VC, were on drugs, mentally war-shocked or just depraved. When there was a humanitarian or relief effort troop to come through, no one was sure they could be trusted. There was no one to ask for help and no one to rescue the civilians living in constant fear, mistrust and despair.

In the course of our discussion we were joined by a woman from Thailand and one from Laos and their added perspectives were wholly enlightening. When I shared the ages of my boys 11 and 14, all three women said they would have been taken from us and forced into military service or killed, if they resisted or ran away. Kids were often sent first into mine fields to trigger the claymores set by other troops. I would have been killed, violated or pressed into service in supporting the armies. The Vietnamese/Laotian family fled into Laos with the clothes on their back and all the money they had in the world and started over with nothing after paying bribes to stay, often over and over to the same people/warlords/gangs. The Thai lost contact with many family members and has never heard from them again - presumed dead.

I need to explore this subject further, I'm fascinated with the exchange we had. I've always felt as an outsider in nail salons, I felt like we were having a UN discussion. Our history books seem to have been edited by military retirees. I went in for spiffy nails and emerged with lots to think about. When I shared with the boys later, their eyes widened at what their roles would have been. Once again, I come to realize we are blessed at the time and place of our birth.
PEACE and Blessings!
Michelle ;-P