[TET1968]

I just returned from a class on real estate law. During a coffee break, a young man ( Early 30s ?) came up to me and asked about my license plate's meaning...TET1968. A young lady ( Early 30s) turned around and said" Yes, what does that stand for?"
Have you ever heard of the Tet Offensive ? I asked.

The young man replied no, respectfully. That's when the war really started in Vietnam? The young woman asked.

Did you know that today was Veterans Day?
The young man replied no, respectfully. "I did" answered the lady.

I then asked, Have you heard of the Battle Of The Bulge?
I think so he replied.
Well, it was sort of like that, only a different war.
When you get home Google Tet Offensive 1968, see what comes up.
I will he said, Now I'm really interested in finding out what this is about.

I went back into the class room feeling a tad disappointed.

[linda_22003]

Tet1968 (and yes, I do remember it), I have a book to recommend to you which may add perspective, Geoff Dyer's "The Missing of the Somme" (1994). It's not so much about the First World War as it is about the function of memory, and how that changes over time.

First, he talks about presumptive memory, how one will wish to be remembered in the future (Rupert Brooke's forward looking "If I should die, think only this of me..."); then comes current, living memory, and the rituals which accompany it (ie., how the British nation observed the two-minute silence very seriously right after the war). Then, as time moves on, memory inevitably becomes second or third hand, as time inevitably breaks it down - statues are seen, rituals are sometimes observed, but people forget why if they do not have the first-hand memory.

It's a very interesting book.