 | | International visitors at the Son My relics | VietNamNet Bridge - Historic Son My, often recognised as the site of a war-driven massacre that has caused posttraumatic stress among returned soldiers and Vietnamese alike, is marking the 33 rd anniversary of the end of the war with an economic boom.
Modern life in the prosperous and peaceful Tinh Khe village in central Quang Ngai province has gradually eased citizens’ grief over the loss of loved ones in a massacre where US soldiers slaughtered 504 locals 40 years ago.
Tinh Khe Village People’s Committee Deputy Chairman Lu Trung Tin says the village is now combining handicrafts trade and services with agricultural diversification to record an economic growth rate of over 13 percent annually.
Locals are now enjoying a stable, average income of 8 million VND per capita per year and the village’s poverty rate has dropped to 13 percent.
Across Tu Cung and Co Luy communes, aquaculture is spreading to replace a rice farming monopoly. As a result, a number of industrial fish and animal farms have earned between 30 and 50 million VND annually each.
The My Khe coast, glittering with sunshine and lined with forests of coconut trees, has been transformed from a revolutionary base to a popular tourist area attracting hundreds of billions of VND in infrastructure development.
Son My itself has also become a tourist site, welcoming tens of thousands of tourists, including veterans who fought in the war in Vietnam and US soldiers who were involved in the Son My massacre.
War veteran Robert Kirkland confided in the site’s guestbook he had returned to Son My six times and could not say in words the feelings that touched his heart with every visit. He said he felt compelled to ask the locals for forgiveness for the crimes and said that peace and freedom are the most important in life.
The music of the violin played by US war veteran Mike Boehm, who has frequented Son My for the past 14 years, touched the hearts of all the participants at a March 16 ceremony to remember victims of the Son My massacre.
For many years Boehm has worked for Quaker Mandison to raise funds in the US and Western European countries to support projects such as the construction of Peace for My Lai park and the Son My primary school.
While the horror of war and Son My lest be forgotten, for it stands as a reminder of what should never be repeated again, it is clear the village is moving from the past into the future and the locals are embracing new opportunities and prosperity with open arms. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment