All Out

Our tour guide at Khe Sanh, amiable and filled with knowledge, pours out his 30 minute brief history of the base. He gives his own opinion at why the American base was doomed to failure: weather. In any case, after two years the Americans themselves felt they couldn’t have left this place soon enough. We appreciate his candid nature. As we patrol the concrete paths, between the charred remnants of a tank and the stacked leftovers of a Huey, we fly over countless beetles lying helpless on their backs. Their legs move aimlessly in the air, churning for something solid. Here, the Americans suffered. There, the Vietnamese. 40 years later, it is all for naught.

We prepare to board the bus. Our tour guide gives a warm goodbye. His inner-most thoughts seep out. “I wish I could come with you,” he says. No one wants to stay.