(VOVworld)- Memories of the war, emotional meetings between those who used to be on the two sides of the war, and stories told by American war veterans during their returns to Vietnam are reflected in the documentary film “Soldiers Sanctuary”. The film was produced by a group of American war veterans in 2012 aiming to convey the message: “Ending hatred to pave the way for reconciliation to make the old battlefields gardens of flowers for the surviving soldiers of both sides meet and think about lessons of the past and heal the war’s wounds”.

The 45-minute film recalls war memories hopes for peace and the friendliness of the Vietnamese people, and the warmth that Vietnamese war veterans have for their past enemies. Dave Hansen, the main character and also the initiator of the film, was a medevac helicopter pilot for the US army during the war. He was in the Khe Sanh battlefield from 1968 to 1971. Like many other American war veterans, Dave Hansen is affected with post-traumatic stress disorder: “I was sent an invitation to Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association in Las Vegas. I decided to go there and check it out, figured out that it was close to my home and if I didn’t like it, I could go back home. When I drove car to Las Vegas, I was thinking about who I am going to see, what I am going to encounter. Suddenly I sobbed myself, just crying. I could not control all the emotions, all the sadness about the war that everybody was a part. To me, this meeting is a real experience about the emotions in mind”.
After that meeting and then talking with other war veterans, Dave Hansen wanted to return to Vietnam. He then invited some war veterans including younger ones to go to Vietnam: “I’m just talking that maybe we can go on this trip and confront people who we shouldn’t try to kill each other. Maybe it could help the conciliation process to be faster”. 

In March 2012, with the sponsorship of the Peace Trees Vietnam, Dave Hansen and his friends came to Vietnam and began to make the film “Soldiers’ Sanctuary”.

Khe Sanh military base was set up by the US in 1968 as the Headquarters of the Command of the Mc Namara line, which attempted to cut the support line from the north to the south. During the Southern Lao Highway 9 Campaign, the US mobilized more than 2,000 air craft and 3,300 helicopters to attack the region with more than 114,000 tons of bombs. In May, 1971, Roger Hill was ordered to move to Vietnam’s southern battlefield to defend the radio transmission station near Khe Sanh demilitarized zone. For over 40 years, Roger Hill cannot forget the fear of that day when his helicopter was ambushed and shot down: “For me, it was really a fierce experience…The next thing I know was the helicopter was moving, because all I can see that it was in the sideline mountain, flying by me. I was going down. If you can imagine, it was like driving a truck without a hood out of the cliff”.

Roger Hill managed to escape but was injured. His friend, Eddie died. Many years later, Roger was haunted by the moment when he witnessed his friends’ death. Returning to Vietnam for the first time in 2012, standing by the wall inscribed with the names of American soldiers who died in the Khe Da library in Khe Da kindergarten, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri Province and wanting to forget the war, Roger Hill and his comrades could not hold back their tears. The wall was built with the sponsorship of the Peace Trees Vietnam, a non-governmental US organization.

The American war veterans visited former battlefields and met with communists – the war veterans of the Southern Liberated Army who joined the Khe Sanh battlefield.

Meeting with the American war veterans, Le Hong Hanh, a war veteran from Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province, said:“Seeing them so long after the war, I realize that they are gentle and good people. Some of them are still haunted by the war and now they want to promote friendship through humanitarian activities to ease the pain".

The past was recalled as memories. Meeting one another again today, all of them are moved and realize the price of the war. Dave said: “I think they just started to realize that they don’t have to be scared in that place any more. Very impressive, really impressive. It is hard to say enough for this. They have come a long way for 40 years, a really long way”. 

The American war veterans have now begun their new mission- planting trees, mobilizing funds to assist mine and bomb clearance and assisting local people to improve their lives. For them, this is a mission of reconciliation and friendship connection. Ryan Washburn is an American war veteran: “I think that planting a tree here is honoring a former soldier no matter what side they are on. I think it stands for moving on, becoming friends, let the past be the past”.

In March 2014, the film “Soldiers’ Sanctuary” was screened in Khe Sanh, Quang Tri as one of the first activities to raise funds for the project  and to set up a Reconciliation Garden there. The film is expected to go to Turkey on May 13 and the Middle East to convey a message: War is meaningless and let’s help the younger generation to live in peace.