History Lesson @ MindSay 
The Vietnam War, or as they call it, the American War, is still highly debatable. Pretty much I came to the conclusion that the US jumped into Vietnam's business to stop them from being communist… because we
care and want to spread democracy so that all the Vietnamese have a say in their government?
No, the US is not an angel. Looks to me like they wanted to stop communism in Vietnam to keep it from spreading in Asia because that would close off the free trade market or hinder it…
It's all about the money, it always is. But that's my opinion. I went to the War Rembrandts Museum and I thought they did a pretty good job at trying to show the horridness of the war for both the Vietnamese and Americans. There were pictures of napalm victims and American soldiers "hanging out" and camp, and all kinds of things. A very broad coverage of the war. They even had a cell for display to show where the Vietcong kept there Vietnamese and American prisoners.
I guess I should give a brief overview of the war… in case you know as little about it as I did. (Maybe I should post my very detailed Global
Studies notes!)
I'll be brief.
The Vietnamese came under French rule in 1858. This is basically around the time when France, Britain, and any other European country with ships and guns tried to take over as many countries as they could. Basically the entire world nonwestern world came under some kind of rule by one or another European bully.
Anyway, they fought them off in like 1942 and then the Japanese came to conquer them. When Japan hit bottom at the end of World War II, the French came back. The Vietnamese kicked their buts big time in 1954. So according to Murphy, Franklin Roosevelt was going to let Vietnam be under their own rule, but when Truman stepped in he had other plans.
He wanted to build and maintain an independent noncommunist Vietnam…which meant instead of honoring the free election (which Ho Chi Mien would have won) the US decides to support a southern Vietnam power that was catholic and ravishly anti communist. The problem was that the US was not fighting on familiar turf, and they were not only fighting the regular northern army, but also the
Viet Cong. These were the civilians who supported the North, they were farmers by day and fighters by night. The Viet Cong could have been the lonely farmer you saw out in the rice field or his 15 year old
daughter. The American soldiers couldn't tell who their enemies were, and in my opinion that is one of the main reasons they lost the war and why you hear so many stories of soldiers destroying villages.
Also there were the tunnels. The Chu Chi tunnels are an extensive underground network… the Vietnamese soldiers could live down there for months, they could come up and attack and disappear in seconds. The
tunnels were booby trapped and tiny. Many Americans got stuck in them and special American soldiers were sent to fight in the tunnels for weeks at a time. It's super intense.
Now of course, the tunnels are a tourist attraction, so I got to go in one. There are 3 levels of deepness, the lowest being the smallest tunnels that you have to crawl through on your belly. Some of the top level tunnels are dug out bigger now to fit the big tourists. I have to say I've never been closterphobic before but I was feeling it while I was in there. Maybe it was just from having all this war stuff in my head which freaks me out anyway, but either way while I was in there I just wanted out.
Anyway… The US lost the war and after a century of western control, Vietnam was finally free to govern itself. And they are doing pretty well if you ask me.
Giving of the Finger
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future.
This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree,and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew"(or "pluck yew" ). Much to the bewilderment of the French,the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"
Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird".
Feel free to "flip it" with pride...... and now understanding.
This was pilfered from an email sent to me and in no way were any birds or bows hurt during this process.
