FOR US. AUTHOR,

VIETNAM SYMBOLIZES FORGIVNESS:

BBC E-mail: My Lai : Legacy of a massacre

HE HAS TRAVERSED THE VAST EXPANSE OF THIS WORLD FROM EUROPE TO THE MIDDLEEAST TO ASIA, BUT FOR AMERICAN WRITER NOVELIST PAUL THEROUXthere is one nation that stands apart for its forgiving attitude towards America’s imperialist massacre into its land – Vietnam .

Theroux who is best known for writing “great Railway Bazaar” an account of his train journey from Britain to Japan in 1975, says VIETNAM as a county had the most profound impact on him, particularly as an American.

We(USA)dropped seven million tons of bombs on Vietnam, more than what the two side fighting the Second World War dropped on each other, yet the Vietnamese people are forgiving, compassionate and forward looking, he says.

“they welcome you with a gesture that says” ‘welcome to the country you flattened’.

“For an American it is a very humbling experience,” he adds.

The Catholic Church supported this American war to create a Catholic Vietnam .

– – –

** My Lai : Legacy of a massacre **

Celia Dunlop uncovers long-hidden recordings of a US army inquiry into the so-called ‘My Lai massacre’ in Vietnam in 1968.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7298533.stm