Earlier today I went to the Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery to see the My Lai Memorial Exhibit, a traveling exhibit that tells the story of one of the most horrific atrocities of the Vietnam War.
From the gallery’s website:
This is the 50th anniversary year of the My Lai massacre, which was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. In the spirit of exposing the true costs of war, and seek justice for the victims of war, Veterans For Peace (VFP) Chapter 74 and the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery is hosting the My Lai Memorial Traveling Exhibit in mid-October. The Exhibit experience invites participants to make a renewed commitment to peace and social justice and provides opportunities to support initiatives working to reduce violence and militarism both at home and abroad.
The exhibit will be held at the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery on...
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Friday, October 12th from 12pm to 8pm
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Saturday, October 13 from 10am to 8pm
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Sunday, October 14 from 10am to 5pm.
On Friday, October 12th, at 7pm there will also be a special program at the My Lai exhibit titled “Vietnam Vets Talk.” Veterans who served in Vietnam will explore their experiences oh how incidents like My Lai could have happened and if such actions could happen again today.
There were evil men who killed the Vietnamese natives indiscriminately, and there were also a few men of conscience who did what they could to prevent worse atrocities.
It’s a powerful, heart-rending exhibit, or to paraphrase draft-dodger Donald Trump, gut-throbbing. They had numbered arrows on the floor, but I don’t think this exhibit is meant to be taken in in any specific linear sequence.
What happened in My Lai may have been the worst of the Vietnam War, but it was not atypical. The history, without revisionism from warmongers, should haunt us all, and compel us to not allow our government to start other open-ended wars like the Vietnam War.
The exhibit will go to Ann Arbor next, then Florida. Eventually it will go to Chicago. If it’s in your town, you should go see it.