Children
in front a a memorial to a battle in the American War
Such
monuments can be found throughout the country, particularly in the south.
Most Vietnamese behave very graciously toward Americans, preferring building
the future to recriminations over the past. Over 60% of the population was born
after the end of the American War, and in popular memory it is rapidly becoming
just one of the many times in Vietnamese history the country has had to repel
"invaders."
Official histories deny the concept that the conflict was a civil war, dismissing
the South Vienamese government as an American puppet.
