The War that has Never Ended

There may be hundreds of stories told about the Vietnamese War, which ended 40 years ago. Stories about millions of victims, about fierce jungle battles, about the resistance of the young generation of 1968, about the role of the medias.

It is actually wrong to speak of the end of the War, as millions of Vietnamese still suffer from the consequences of it. Millions of unexploded exolosives and ammunition are still in the ground, Agent Orange, the herbicide used by the US army to defoliate the forests and thus destroy the food supply for their adversary has poisoned the land for centuries to come. The poison enters the body by way of taking food, affects the genotype and brings about numerous birth deformities like the loss of limbs, palatine cleft, etc. Such deformities never heal.

During several Vietnam travels Peter Jaeggi, the journalist, and myself examined the aftermath of the War and documented the way the Vietnamese and the Americans tackle the consequences of one of the biggest tragedies of 20th century.

Roland Schmid