Visit to the Vietnam War memorial “Wall that Heals” in Hilo
Jan. 25, 2024
Visit to the Vietnam War memorial “Wall that Heals” in Hilo
I spent about 45 min at the wall in Hilo today and viewing the educational displays. There was no overt recruiting taking place but the large numbers of American flags portrayed a bravado image in my view. I saw no mention in the educational displays about the 7 million Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians killed in the US war nor any mention of the US dropping 7 million tons of bombs, twice as much as in WWII. A wall for the 7 million Southeast Asian victims of the US war would be 120 times larger than the “Wall That Heals” displayed in Hilo which includes the names of the 58,281 Americans who died. There is a lot more to the story than was portrayed in the educational displays. While it was noted that by 1971, 60% of Americans opposed the war, there was nothing to show the massive protests, including Vietnam Vets against the war. As I noted in this week’s peace leaflet, in a single day in 1970, more than 13,000 were arrested in Washington DC for peaceful protest against the war, including many Vietnam war vets. See today’s Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet “Honor Veterans: Don’t Fund More Wars!” https://malu-aina.org/?p=9712
I ran into Hawaii County’s Mayor Mitch Roth at the wall. I asked him if he got this week’s peace leaflet — “Honor Veterans! Don’t Fund More Wars! He said yes, and he agreed with the “Honor Veterans” part.
Jim
PS
Please Join the weekly Hilo Peace Vigil 3:30-5 PM on Fridays at the downtown Hilo Post Office/Federal Building. Join the peace organizing meetings held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month at the Kea’au Community Center from 6-8 PM.
-- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
