Posted on 04/01/2005 8:22:26 PM PST by InvisibleChurch
It's been 30 years since the last bombs fell during the Vietnam War, and longtime peace activist Peter Yarrow says it's about time that America apologizes.
The singer-songwriter from the 1960s folk group Peter, Paul and Mary has grown gray, but his passion to fight for those affected by the war remains fervent.
During his first trip to Vietnam this week, he told The Associated Press that the war wounds of the United States won't heal until the nation makes amends — a process he believes should involve helping Vietnamese suffering from the ill health effects of Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed by U.S. planes during the war.
"All I know is that there's something that's really hurting the process of engagement, normalization and mutual respect in this equation," he said of U.S.-Vietnam relations. "And a real flash point is the issue of Agent Orange."
Yarrow, 66, performed a benefit concert before a packed crowd in Hanoi's Opera House to raise money for the cause and visited a village where U.S. veterans volunteer their time to help children suffering from diseases and birth defects believed to be caused by exposure to the chemical.
Yarrow, famous for the song "Puff, The Magic Dragon" and his rendition of Bob Dylan's classic "Blowin' In The Wind", decided to devote himself to the cause after years of activism ranging from marching with slain U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., to organizing concerts in Madison Square Garden to protest the unpopular war.
"Now, I'm here with that history and came to Vietnam ready to get down on my knees as one American and say, 'Please forgive us. We who are a good country — and a great country in many ways — also have made some terrible mistakes,'" he said.
Yarrow is among the first well-known anti-war activists to come to Vietnam since the war ended on April 30, 1975, when communist forces took over Saigon, the U.S.-backed capital of South Vietnam.
Actress Jane Fonda visited North Vietnam in 1972 where she met American prisoners of war and was photographed at a communist anti-aircraft gun site, earning her the nickname "Hanoi Jane."
In an interview prior to the release of her memoir next week, Fonda has that "... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal ... the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine."
Since the war, relations with the United States have warmed. Diplomatic ties were normalized in 1995 and a landmark trade agreement was signed in 2001, prompting an explosion of business. But the issue of Agent Orange remains a sticking point.
A U.S. federal court last month dismissed the first-ever lawsuit filed by Vietnamese against the American chemical manufactures, claiming they suffered severe health problems after exposure to Agent Orange.
U.S. aircraft dumped 21 million gallons of defoliant on Vietnam from 1962-71. Most of that was Agent Orange, which contains the toxic dioxin, blamed for causing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, spina bifida and a range of other health problems. However, the U.S. government maintains there is not enough evidence to link dioxin to those ailments.
But Yarrow said the science shouldn't matter. Instead, he said the United States should simply do the right thing 30 years after the war by treating the Vietnamese who say they suffer from exposure.
"It's not to me an issue about whether it's 30 percent or 80 percent of them being victims of Agent Orange ... You've got to say 'We, as a country, are sorry' or at least the individuals have to say it," he said.
While in Vietnam, Yarrow also traveled to Ho Chi Minh City where he attended a conference of international schools to promote Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded to foster nonviolence in schools.
Absolutely, the DemocRATS should apologize for not conducting the bombings we conducted against Hanoi during Christmas 1972 back in 1965.
To Peter Yarrow:
Dear Peter:
I am a Viet Nam Vet and I would like to apologize to North Viet Nam. I can't speak for the rest of my vet brothers, but I want to say I am sorry.
I am sorry we had our hands tied by congress and the main stream media, preventing us from kicking your asses back to the stone age.
~hands over my ears~
Stop it!
Puff the magic dragon, was my favourit song as a kid. Anyone who ruins that for me is in for trouble!
Puff put on a great light show. Considering there were 4 rounds between every tracer and it looked like a red line running to the ground
I was laughing at the gigantic cruise missiles with "We Apologize" painted on the side.
LOL
That pic kills me every time.
Oh that's okay...
just don't mess with me nostalgia for the Land of dum-de-dum (Where did Puff live anyway? *LOL*)
On behalf of the liberals and Democrats that got us into that mess and kept it a mess America Apologizes. LOL
In a land called Honalea (sp?), of course.
See! I know you knew it...I was just testin' ye! *LOL* (not really) ;-)
Where have all the idiots gone?
Op, there's one now.
The problem for me is that it gets harder and harder to listen to their music. I was/am sorta a big fan. Just can't countance their political views!
FORMERLY well-known . . .
You're only as good as your latest "bad" war.
If I had a hammer-there wouldn't be any more folk singers.
Gee Pete, did you ever apologize to that young girl you molested, or her parents? How about apologizing to us for being a Kerry supporter?
OUCH!
When I saw this on Drudge today I had to come here. I wanted to vent some rage on this stupid bastard, but everyone seems to have done an excellent job already. Especially the vets.
That too, but Billy also had a "little boy problem". He went to prison a few years for it.
I see you haven't lost your curve ball.
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