Good Morning, Vietnam: It's a Wonderful World - A Perspective

            

Sitting in the Student Union at Henderson State University between classes during the 1966-1969 years, we students read the newspaper and would, on occasion, see the list of dead in the southeast Asia, Vietnam theaters of operation. We had watched friends graduate and receive their commissions as 2^nd Lieutenant after four years in the Army ROTC program at Henderson. Many of these young men were deployed immediately to Vietnam and many did not return. Seeing their names listed as Killed-in-Action was quite sobering.

            Fast forward twenty-five years to my first year as school administrator at Bartlett High School: 1994. It was one heck of a year.

One of our beloved assistant principals and star athlete-alumni died of a massive heart attack during the horrendous ice storm. The county faced an outbreak of measles and we documented that each student (over 2500) was vaccinated against the disease. Our Panther cheerleaders fell upon bad times and scandal broke out among administrators, sponsors, parents, and cheerleaders. The yearbook was sued over a free speech issue that carried racial overtones. The Sons of Confederate Veterans filed an injunction against publication of the entire book. Confederate flags flew in the back of pick-up trucks that circled the front driveway of the school and Dixie blasted from vehicle horns. The Senior Parade turned from celebratory to contentious. Oh, how many regrets I have and how many sad memories overshadow so much good during that 1993-94 school year.

I was a new administrator, fresh from the classroom, full of lofty ideals. Love for students and the school caused me to push for ways which I thought would improve the entirety of the school’s philosophy of operation. How I wanted to make everything better and take the school’s student activity program into a new and progressive era. How wrong I was to strong-arm such an undertaking. Add to that, as female, I felt I had to assert my authority as assistant principal. My principal did not let me down, but did advise me to consider the impact of my decisions 10 years down the road.  What about 21 years down the road? Those 1994 teenagers did not appreciate my forward thinking. I held firm and absorbed the blows to my ego and my persona.  The changes I proposed and enforced were too much, too quickly, and I regret that year’s battles and the resulting ill-will. So very much during that year I regret. 

What I do not regret is being a part of the high school life of many wonderful citizens of Bartlett and our nation. Brent Morel was a thorn in my side. He rebelled and led the charge against just about any decision I made. The homecoming pep-rally and evening pre-ceremony were disasters. He also led the charge as an officer in Desert Storm. He received the Marine Corps medal for valor. I attended his visitation and have been to UT-Martin to see the bronze bust in his memory.

David Reaves is Shelby County Commissioner and has weathered many storms politically in his young career. I had the privilege of voting for him in Shelby County elections.  What a fine football captain he was and what a wonderful man and leader he is for Shelby County.  His future is unlimited.

I will never forget the class Valedictorian:  Ai-Van Do.  She was #1 in her graduating class of 421 students. This charming young lady was an absolute pleasure to know and joy to teach. Her smile, her demeanor, her endearing qualities would have made her unforgettable, regardless. While I knew something of her story, I did not know it all.  She offered  her Valedictory Address that graduation night and told the audience at the Mid-South Coliseum about her family’s escape from Vietnam and subsequent arrival in California.  She went on to explain how families in the Mid-South, Memphis, Bartlett areas served as host families welcoming survivors of the boat trips out of Communist occupied Vietnam. There she stood, a survivor, telling her story to over 3000 audience members. People wept. A standing ovation followed her speech.

Today marks the 40^th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City.  The story is buried on page 6A of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I remember watching the evacuation of the US Embassy on news reports:  the helicopters rising in dust and frantic noise, the chaotic screaming.  The newspaper states: “Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the south in the days and years after the war, with many taking rickety boats in search of freedom. The majority ended up resettling in the US.”

Hearing Good Morning, Vietnam! soundtrack brings tears to my eyes, especially the scene filmed from a helicopter as it passes over the rice patties. Strains of Louis Armstrong’s It’s A Wonderful World lilt as the audience sees American soldiers and Vietnam civilians on a bright, blue-sky afternoon.

While I have many professional regrets about 1994, I will never regret learning about and knowing Ai-Van Do, her sister Ai-Thuy (2001) and her brother Daniel (2005). Their story is a part of me and I cherish that relationship.