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| VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN
PEACE PARK 1993-2006 |
In 1989 Morley Safer and a 60 Minutes crew
traveled to Vietnam to produce a piece called the "The Enemy".
Many high-ranking Vietnamese officials such as Gen. Vo Nguyen
Giap were interviewed, but the man who caught the heart of
the American people was a professor of English in Hanoi named
Nguyen Ngoc Hung.
Even though he fought for six years during the war with the
Americans, Prof. Hung projected a compassionate, even charismatic
image, and as a result was invited to come to the U.S. in
1990 on a tour promoting peace, friendship and reconciliation.
One city he visited was Madison, Wisconsin. From there he
was taken by local veterans to the Highground, Wisconsin’s
Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, located outside of Neillsville,
Wisconsin.
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During the Dove Mound dedication at the Highground,
John Beaudin (Wa Kanja Hoohega), a Native American veteran
of the war in Vietnam, spoke about the meaning of the Dove
Mound.
"It is a spiritual place where you can go and let your mother,
the Earth, hold you. Let the children play on it. Dance on
it. Use it to unload your grief and pain, to renew and strengthen
you. Lay back in the soft fold of its wings and let Mother
Earth unburden you. Then get up and leave your troubles and
cares there on the mound, as you walk away renewed and refreshed."
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| The
Flag |
Many years ago
In their country
I fought them
The enemy
Because I was told to
Because I believed...
Because that’s who I was
Then...
I took their flag
And brought it over here
My trophy
My prisoner of war
Today...
At The Highground
I looked at my enemy
And saw my brother |
I returned his flag
To him
To his country
To his home
Because I am healing
Because that is who I Am
Today...
I looked into the eyes
Of my enemy
And saw
Myself
To kill him
Would be suicide
To love him
Would be salvation...
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As
told by a Vietnam veteran to
"Gii-Gii-Zhaab-O-Mii-Mii"
"Mourning Dove" |
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"I LOOKED INTO
THE EYES OF MY ENEMY AND SAW MYSELF"
Of the many powerful monuments at the Highground, the one
that most affected Hung was the Dove Mound. This grass-covered
earthen mound is about 110 feet wingtip-to-wingtip. Its design,
created by Vietnam veteran David Giffy, was inspired by Native
American effigy mounds. Hung was taken to the mound and, after
a captured NVA flag was returned to him, he was told the purpose
of the Dove Mound. The American veterans told him that the
Dove Mound was a powerful source of healing for them—it
was a place to go to leave the pain of the war behind, to
remember friends who had died during the war, and to remember
friends who were still missing in Vietnam. After hearing this,
Hung went to the Dove Mound, burned incense, and said a prayer
for his younger brother, one of Vietnam’s more than
300,000 missing-in-action. His prayer had a profound impact
on the American veterans there that day.
In 1993 I heard that Hung was coming to the U.S. again and
arranged for him to speak in Madison. My purpose was to give
some balance to what the people of Madison were hearing about
the war in Vietnam. While organizing Hung’s schedule
I heard for the first time about Hung’s visit to the
Highground and the profound effect it had on both Hung and
the American veterans. |
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I was so inspired by this event that I felt that
this was what the people of Vietnam and the U.S. needed, a Peace
Park, which would give the people of both countries a way to communicate
on a deep, emotional and spiritual level. When I proposed the
idea to Hung he immediately agreed and said he had wanted this
since his visit to the Highground in 1990. The idea of the Vietnamese-American
Peace Park was born. |
Nguyen Ngoc Hung and Mike Boehm,
Madison, Wisconsin, in June 1993. |
General Pham Hong Son, brother-in-law to General Vo Nguyen Giap,
gives Mike Boehm a hug at the ground breaking ceremony of the Vietnamese-American
Peace Park, May 11, 1995. Gen. Son said later that day "Most countries
around the world continue to teach the younger generations about
the horrors of war by building war monuments. Mike is changing that
tradition by building a monument to peace." |
"IN THE SPIRIT OF PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP...WE
MEET AGAIN."
The Memorandum of Understanding for the Vietnamese-American Peace
Park was signed in Hanoi on March 11, 1995. After the signing
we drove 30 miles north of Hanoi to the site of the future peace
park. There we planted trees and village elders held ceremonies
praying to the Earth Gods for their permission and support to
build this peace park. It was here that Gen. Pham Hong Son hugged
me and later said to the Vietnamese reporters "Most countries
around the world continue to teach the younger generations about
war by building war monuments. Mike is changing that tradition
by building a monument to peace."
Six months later the Vietnamese-American Peace Park was dedicated.
Thirteen American veterans flew to Vietnam to attend this ceremony.
Accompanying them was Madison Quaker, Betty Boardman. Betty traveled
with six men on the ship Phoenix in 1967 to deliver medical supplies
to Hai Phong and Hanoi. Her trip polarized our country back then
but here she was hand-in-hand with former American soldiers dedicating
the Vietnamese-American Peace Park. |
| Highlights of that day included planting trees together with
Vietnamese veterans, our former enemies. We all know that planting
a tree means having hope for the future. Planting trees with our
former enemies in the hope that they would flourish as a symbol
of peace was very powerful. Another highlight was the Peace Pipe
Ceremony performed by Vietnam veteran David Giffey. David was
also the creator of the Dove Mound at the Highground. With the
guidance of a Native American spiritual leader David prayed to
the sky, the four directions and then to the earth. After this
I read, with Hung translating, a letter of congratulations and
support by Anne and Emily Morrison Welsh. They are the widow and
daughter of Norman Morrison who immolated himself in 1965 in front
of Robert McNamara’s office at the Pentagon.
After the ceremonies we all went into the village for a simple
lunch of sticky rice and peanuts. |
Grandfather, Great Spirit, we point this pipe to the Heavens and
ask you to look on the people of Vietnam and America as we share
the dove of Peace in a spirit of friendship, and to guide our stips
on a bridge of understanding between our two nations. |
Glenn Clark, helicopter pilot during the war and Betty Boardman,
anti-war activist demonstrating the need for reconciliation within
our country. |
THE VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN PEACE
PARK HAS BEEN ‘LAID DOWN’
In Quaker language when a project has been ‘laid down’
it means that although the project no longer exists it has served
its purpose. That purpose was to bring former enemies together
to work for peace. Serving that purpose led to the series of dialogues
that led to the creation of the My Lai Peace Park. Without the
creation of the Vietnamese-American Peace Park there could never
have been a My Lai Peace Park.
The main problem was the lack of the administration skills needed
for the Vietnamese-American Peace Park to succeed. Over the years
it became increasingly obvious that the administrative details
had been carried out in such a way that it was no longer possible
to proceed further. Our partner for this first peace park was
Nguyen Ngoc Hung. While being a teacher of English, he is first
and foremost a poet. It was his poetic sense that inspired us
to make this attempt at building a peace park north of Hanoi.
Our partner for the My Lai Peace Park and our other programs in
Vietnam is Mr. Phan Van Do. Mr. Do is also a poet but in addition
he is also a very skilled administrator. It is because of his
skills that we are succeeding with the My Lai Peace Park and our
other programs in Quang Ngai province. But we would not have met
Mr. Do without first meeting Mr. Hung.
This year small branches and pieces of roots were taken from trees
at the Vietnamese-American Peace Park and taken to the My Lai
Peace Park. There a ceremony will transfer the spiritual essence
of the Vietnamese-American Peace Park to the My Lai Peace Park
and so the first peace park will continue live and inspire people
around the world.
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| Click
here for more photos of the ceremonies, the Morrison family visit
and more |
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