Nov 18, 2006
Another View
“In Vietnam, the publication of a wartime diary written by an idealistic young doctor has captured the imagination of readers, and become a runaway best-seller. The diary of Dang Thuy Tram was rescued from destruction by an American soldier.“
Tram’s diary is currently being translated. It is set to come out in the US in September 2007. The title: Last Night I Dreamed of Peace.
Here’s an excerpt:
“July 25, 1968: Oh, my God. How hateful the war is. And the more hate, the more the devils are eager to fight. Why do they enjoy shooting and killing good people like us? How can they have the heart to kill all those youngsters who love life, who are struggling and living for so many hopes?”
Listening to excerpts from Tram’s diary in this story was deeply moving. But I was also moved by the following words uttered by Frederick Whitehurst, the American man who rescued Tram’s diary while in Vietnam.
“I’m not a pacifist, I’m not at all,” he says. “I come from a military family. I’m a company man. But I’ve always known since in Vietnam when I did it, when you put a bullet into a human being you cannot take back that thing called life. You cannot get it back, and Dang Thuy Tram describes so deeply what that thing is, that thing called life. And a bullet went right through her forehead and in that instant, she was gone. Can we think of another way to do this?”
I’m looking forward to reading Tram’s diary next year.
Click here to read or listen to the All Things Considered story on NPR from November 15, 2006.
