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Mountain Guide
- Red Hen Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
90 The Golden Tortoise Tam was a child during the war. His father was a driver and interpreter for the Americans. His earliest memory is of falling bombs as his family fled while Viet Cong and GIs fought fiercely for the possession of his Central Highlands village. “Whoever controls these mountains controls Viet Nam,” military strategists had said. Tam was six years old when his village was taken by the North, 3 years before the fall of Sai Gon, “or its liberation,” he says. His family moved back. His father was sent to a reeducation camp. Not important enough to imprison for long, he soon returned home. This family was lucky. They only lost their home, livestock, belongings, garden and land, but they all survived. Now Tam guides Americans through the mountains his people control. Mountain Guide “Learn their language and be their guide,” my father said as he grasped the wheel and I bounced beside him in the green jeep along poisoned and bomb-pocked roads while the white giant in the steel hat ruffled my hair from behind then dropped sweet candy into my lap like a gift from the emperor of the sky. And so I did. And now, in my own country, in my green home, so I am. R “’Purple mountains’ majesty’—here too,” I think as we roll north along the bumpy layers of the western mountain range that borders Laos. We pass through villages occupied by minority Jarai and Bahnar people. A loudspeaker blares words our guides do not understand. We pass both remnants of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail; paved sections form part of a new highway while dusty lengths creep over hills and through brush. We seek old outposts, camps, medical bases and battlefields where some of us served. ...