March 2018 Trip to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

March 16, 2018, is the fiftieth anniversary of the My Lai massacre.  This is an anniversary worth lifting up so this trip will be built around that date.

From 1985 until the late 1990s I led one or two trips a year to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  Initially they were designed for university teachers and administrators, but came to include lawyers, NGOs, foundations, business people and veterans of the OSS.  The goal was to increase mutual understanding and help all four countries move to normal diplomatic, cultural and economic relations.

More recently I have organized trips for former anti-war activists and members of their families. These offer an opportunity to see the impact of the war, reflect with hosts on the role of anti-war activism, and experience fascinating cultures, histories, geography and cuisines. Meetings with government and US embassy officials focus on contemporary issues, including economic development, trade and the danger of conflict over territorial claims in the South China (a.k.a. East) Sea. 

The itinerary is below in overall and detailed forms.  The core of the trip is two weeks of programmed days in Vietnam, covering north, center and south.  People who want to have more time for conventional sightseeing are encouraged to come early and/or stay later.  I will provide an introduction to a capable Vietnamese travel agent and offer advice about excursions to Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, the Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple, natural parks, etc.  

Depending on the amount of interest, I will include Laos and Cambodia in the trip or simply help you arrange your own program there before or after Vietnam.  Personally I recommend spending an extra week to get a sense of  two very different but related histories, cultures, economies and contemporary political systems.  (Laos could be scheduled before Vietnam or after Cambodia.)

The cost of the trip is about $2,500 for the ground program in Vietnam.  Laos will be roughly an additional $300 and Cambodia $700.   That does not include air fare between countries or from the US.  Exact costs depend on the number of participants sharing the expense of the guide/interpreter and for administrative work of our host, the Vietnam-USA Society.

You may be able to use airline mileage on trans-Pacific flights.  Call your airline's program; don't depend on its on-line reservation system.

My goal is to share my experience and personal relationships.  I do not earn anything from the trip, but your $200 confirmation payment will hopefully cover my cost of accompanying and assistng you.

Register for the trip here, preferably by no later than January :  https://tinyurl.com/ICreg2018

John McAuliff 
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
<jmcauliff@ffrd.org>
917-859-9025
www.ffrd.org

General itinerary

(Pre-program sightseeing options:  Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, Pottery Village or ?)
Saturday, March 10  arrive in Ha Noi no later than the evening
Sunday-Wednesday, March 11 - 14  meetings, museums, special sights, US embassy
Thursday, March 15  fly to Da Nang, meeting at Institute for Socio-Economic Development, beach 
         hotel in Hoi An
Friday, March 16  drive to My Lai for anniversary observation
Saturday, March 17 meetings in Da Nang
Sunday, March 18  travel by bus from Hoi An to Quang Tri, visit DMZ and cemetery
Monday, March 19  Quang Tri land mines UXO projects, drive to Hue
Tuesday, March 20  Meetings in Hue and sightseeing
Wednesday, March 21  Fly to Ho Chi Minh City
Thursday, March 22  Meetings and sightseeing in HCMC
Friday, March 23  Visit Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta, the site of a less known atrocity
Saturday, March 24  Meetings and sightseeing in HCMC
Sunday, March 25  Departure to US, Thailand, or Cambodia; personal option for visit to Cu Chi  
                               tunnels, Cao Dai temple

Optional extension

Sunday, March 25 - Tuesday, March 27    Phnom Penh
Tuesday, March 27 - Wednesday, March 28  Angkor Wat
Thursday, March 29 - Friday, March 30  Vientiane, Laos
Saturday, March 31  depart for Luang Prabang, Xien Quang, Bangkok or home


***********************

Detailed Vietnam program, subject to change

A TENTATIVE ITINERARY FOR FRD VISIT TO VIETNAM

 (From 10 March – 25 March, 2018)

Saturday, March 10: HANOI

Anytime      Arrive in Noi Bai Airport, Ha Noi (or return from personal excursion)

By night       Check in the hotel

19:30           Dinner on own (those interested, gather in lobby)

Sunday, March 11: 

9:00             Welcome meeting

10:00           Bus tour of Ha Noi, Temple of Literature

12:30           Lunch with group

14:30           Visit the Museum of Vietnamese Ethnology

17:30           Water Puppet Show

19:30           Dinner on own or with friends  (optional)

Monday, March 12: HÀ NOI

9:00-10:30  Presentation “The American War and the Anti-War Movement” by

Historian Duong Trung Quoc, discussion of PBS series with Bao Ninh  

and others interviewed by Lynn Novick

10:30-11:30 Presentation “Social and Economic Transformation from the Time of Doi Moi” by Mr. Bui The Giang

12:00           Lunch with group

14:00–15:30 Meeting with the Institute for East Sea Vietnam Study – “The Situation 

                     in the East Sea”.   

16:00           Meeting with Mr. Tran Dac Loi, Deputy Head of the Commission for

Foreign Relations of the Party

17:30           Meeting with Dang Nhat Minh with option of watching “Don’t Burn It”

19:30           Dinner on own or with friends (optional)

  

Tuesday, March 13 : HA NOI

08:00           Visit to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, his house on stilts and museum

 (long pants or dress and buttoned shirt)

12:00            Lunch with group

14:30            Meeting with US Ambassador (All passports need to be ready for 

                     security checking at the Embassy)

16:00           Time on own

19:30           dinner on own or with friends

Wednesday, March 14: HA NOI

09:00           Meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

10:30           Museum of choice (Art, Women, Military History)

12:30            Lunch with group

14:30           Visit GARCO 10 equitized factory  

Thursday, March 15: HA NOI -  DA NANG - HOI AN

07:30          Leave for Noi Ba Airport for flight to Da Nang

10:30          Fly to Da Nang.

12:30          Lunch with group

14:00           Briefing at Institute for Socio-Economic, meet Deputy Director Dr. Tran 

                    Duc Anh Son, a former Fulbright scholar

15:30          Travel to Hoi An town. Check in Beach Hotel

18:00          Walking tour of the ancient town of Hoi An, World Cultural Heritage Site

19:30          Dinner with Andrew Wells Dang

Friday, March 16: HOI AN - MỸ LAI QUẢNG NGAI - HOI AN

07:00          Travel South to Quang Ngai Province to My Lai for anniversary 

                    observation,

12:00           Lunch at a local restaurant

13:30          Travel back to Hoi An

15:30           free time on beach

19:30          Dinner on own

Saturday, March 17:  HOI AN - DA NANG - HOI AN

08:00          Travel to Da Nang

09:30          Meeting with the Vietnam – USA Society, bus tour of city

12:30          Lunch with group

14:30          Visit school for Agent Orange affected children or Cham museum

16:30           Return to Hoi An

19:30          Dinner on own

Sunday, March 18: HOI AN - DA NANG - HUE - QUANG TRI

07:30          Travel to Quảng Tri

12:00          Lunch at Restaurant in Hue City

14:30          Travel to Quang Tri.

17:00          Check in Hotel in Dong Ha City Quang Tri Province

19:00           Dinner with group

Monday, March 19: QUẢNG TRI – HUE

08:30          Visit to the landmines/UXO exhibition Center of the Project RENEW in Dong Ha City and

12:30          Lunch in Dong Ha capital city of Quang Tri Province

13:30          Visit DMZ and cemetery

16:30          Travel to Hue

18:30          Check-in  Hotel and Dinner

Tuesday, March 20 : HUE

09:00          Meeting with Hue City Union of Friendship Organizations

                   Visit Royal Citadel

12:00           Lunch with group

13:30           Visit University of Hue, meet international cooperation staff, appropriate                          specialists

15:30           Visit Lin Mu Pagoda

Wednesday, March 21: HUE – HO CHI MINH CITY

10:00          Check out of the Hotel

11:00          Leave the hotel for Phu Bai Airport. Lunch at the airport

13:15          Fly to Ho Chi Minh City

14:45          Arrival in at Tan Son Nhat Airport/&transfer to downdown Ho Chi Minh 

                   City, Check-in  Hotel

16:30          City tour by bus (including Cho Lon)

19:30          Dinner with group

Thursday, March 22:

09:00          Meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations (veterans, students, leader representatives)

10:30          Visit War Remnants Museum

12:30            Lunch with group

14:00          Meet with expert on HCMC economic development, visit economic

                     development zone

17:00           Free time, visit market?

19:30           Dinner on own or with friends

Friday, March 23: HCM - BEN TRE/MEKONG DELTA

Leave Ho Chi Minh City for a travel to Mekong Delta

Visit Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta, the site of a less known atrocity

Lunch at a local restaurant

Visit local economic development project (if suggested by Mdm Ninh)

17:00          Return to Ho Chi Minh City

19:30          Dinner on own or with friends

 

Saturday, March 24: HO CHI MINH CITY

9:30-11:00  Meeting with Madame Ton Nu Thi Ninh

12:00       Lunch on own

13:30      Visit the Vietnam – USA Society English Language Center

15:00       Free time

19:30      Final group dinner  (special location)

Sunday March 25 : HCM - ?

Delegates depart for the US, Thailand or Cambodia

(Night flights would permit personal tour visit to Cu Chi tunnels) 

Summaries of Planned April 4th Programs

Commemorating the 50^th Anniversary

of the “Breaking Silence” speech by

Dr Martin Luther King, Jr

April 4, 1967

  

http://vnpeacecomm.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-call-to-break-silence.html

Chicago, Illinois

“A Time to Break Silence: Beyond Vietnam,” at Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington, Chicago, Illinois, Sunday, April 2, 2017 from 1:30 – 4:30 pm  Keynote speaker Sherri Bevel, co-founder of the Addie Wyatt Center for Nonviolence Training in Chicago and daughter of civil rights legends James Bevel and Diane Nash, will share reflections plus reading excerpts from King’s famous speech.

Contact:  Chicago Peace Action at www.chipeaceaction.org

South Bend, Indiana

“Finding Common Ground: Linking the Struggles against Poverty, Racism and War” at the Charles Martin Center, 802 Lincolnway West, South Bend, on April 2, 2017, from 4-6 pm.  Speakers include representatives from Kroc Institute, Civil Rights Heritage Center and South Bend Heritage Foundation.

Contact:  Darry Heller at 773-391-8584 or David Cortright at david.b.cortright.1@nd.edu

New York, New York

“Remembering Past Wars and Preventing the Next,” an event to mark 100 years since the US entered WWI and 50 years since King made his famous speech against war.  A new movement to end all war is growing.  April 3, 2017, at NYU from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.  Vanderbilt Hall Room 210, NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South.  Sponsored by World Beyond War, Center on Conscience and War and NYU National Lawyers Guild.

Contact:  www.worldbeyondwar.org/100NY

New York, New York

“Beyond Vietnam 50^th Anniversary,” will take place at Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, NY, NY in The Nave on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 from 7-9 pm.  Co-sponsored with Iliff School of Theology, Union Theological Seminary and Veterans of Hope, it will feature Michelle Alexander and Ruby Sales as speakers and entertainment.

Contact:  trcnyc.org

Stanford, California

“Fiftieth Anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Most Controversial Speech:  Beyond Vietnam,”

April 4, 2017 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Cemex Auditorium, 655 Knight Way, Stanford, CA 94305.  A panel of experts will discuss King’s speech concluding with author and television personality Tavis Smiley, legal advisor Clarence B. Jones and King Institute director Claybourne Carson.  The program will feature a screening of Smiley’s documentary on the “Beyond Vietnam” speech, “MLK Call to Conscience.”
Contact: zaitaym@stanford.edu, 650-736-0711

St. Louis, Missouri

Veterans for Peace will hold a Martin Luther King, Jr “Beyond Vietnam” speech reading and dedication of an installation of a Peace Pole on Tuesday, April 4, at 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Tomas Dunn learning center, 3113 Gasconade, St. Louis, MO 

Contact:  casey@veteransforpeace.org

Washington, D.C.

“A Jubilee Year of Truth and Transformation,” at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 from 12:30 to 5 pm sponsored by the Shalom Center.  Among featured speakers are Sister Simone Campbell of “Nuns on the Bus,” Rabbi David Saperstein of Religious Action Center and Rev. Anthony Grimm of FOR and Black Lives Matter.  At 5 pm there is a procession from the church to the White House.

Contact:  Shalom Center at MLK50.org or theshalomcenter.org

Cincinnati, Ohio

Joint event sponsored on April 4 by the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Greater Cincinnati with the Faith Community Alliance and the Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP.  The AFL-CIO may also participate.

Contact:  Brewster Rhoads at brewohio@gmail.com

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Veterans for Peace is co-sponsoring a community reading of excerpts from Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech followed by hands-on art development and discussion.  Tuesday, April 4 from 7:30 to 9:00 pm at the First Unitarian Church, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave (at 57^th), Hyde Park, Chicago.

Contact: Arny Stieber 734-216-1814, www.borderbend.org/blog/a-time-to-break-silence

Washington, DC

 “Remembering Past Wars and Preventing the Next,” an event to mark 100 years since the US entered WWI and 50 years since King made his famous speech against war.  A new movement to end all war is growing.  April 4, 2017, 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Busboys and Poets, 5^th and K Streets NW, Washington, DC.  Sponsored by World Beyond War, Center on Conscience and War and Code Pink.

Contact:  www.worldbeyondwar.org/100DC

Des Moines, Iowa

Procession led by donkey and prayer services through Des Moines starting from Grace United Methodist Church, 38 & Cottage Grove, ending with prayer service where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr spoke in 1959, First Christian Church, 25 & University.  Actor Aaron Smith will reenact Dr King’s sermon delivered in 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City, sponsored by many Des Moines area churches and peace organizations.

April 9, 2017 at 3 pm procession begins

April 9, 2017 at 3:30 pm prayer service begins

Contact: Carmen Lampezeitler at 515-210-4400 or Carmen.lampezeitler@gmail.com

Cape Cod and Islands, Massachusetts

Local church programs sponsored by Cape Cod Council of Churches and university programs at Cape Cod Community College and Boston University during the weekend of April 21-23, 2017 promoted by ads in local periodicals.  Readings, music and potluck meals will be featured at the events.  King did his post-graduate studies at Boston University.

Contact:  Nancy Jane Woodside at woodside.nancy@comcast.net

Asheville, North Carolina

Six week Lenten study series every Wednesday evening based on their reading of the April 4, 1967, King address at Circle of Mercy Congregation.

Contact:  Bill Ramsey at billramsey3@gmail.com

Arlington, Virginia

“The Theology of the Beloved Community,” will take place on Friday, April 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Crystal City, 300 Army-Navy Dr, Arlington, VA 22202-2891.  Religious groups gathering at the 2017 Ecumenical Advocacy Days will lift their voices in response to King’s speech against Materialism, Militarism and Racism.  This workshop will analyze Christian foundations for common work to create the “Beloved Community.”

Contact:  Keith Swartzendruber, National Council of Churches

www.advocacydays.org/2017-confronting-chaos/pre-conference-event

A Personal Account of King's Speech

KING AT RIVERSIDE CHURCH

by Reverend Richard R. Fernandez

It is strange the way things happen sometimes. Sometimes we cannot even see the “tipping point” until it is right in front of us. As dramatic and important as President Lyndon Johnson’s brief speech announcing he would not seek reelection because of his unpopularity and immense emotional stress caused by his Vietnam policies was, Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech from Riverside Church of April 4, 1967 was an even more crucial and game-changing moment in the nation as it wrestled with the war issue. Dr. King’s journey to the church that cool Tuesday evening in April was a winding one just as the aftermath generated a sense of institutional trauma into the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

In February of 1967 plans were being developed for a large anti-war protest at the United Nations on April 15. The New York Avenue Peace Parade Committee and the Mobilization to End the War were working together in the planning of the event. Jim Bevel, a one time SCLC staff member, was a key leader for the Mobilization and he had his own unique way of empowering or scaring others into supporting his views. (In preparation for this big demonstration Bevel met with Rabbi Abraham Heschel, a Professor at Hebrew Union Seminary and a Co-Chair of Clergy and Laity Concerned, that he had had a vision. God had told him, Bevel said, that the peace movement should fill a ship of peace advocates, sail it to Vietnam and invade/reclaim the country for peace!)

It was Bevel who approached Dr. King to be one of the speakers at the April demonstration. In these kinds of Vietnam War demonstrations there were typically fifteen to twenty speakers and as many as ten different nationally known musicians that would perform at such events. Some staff at SCLC and among SCLC advisors were concerned that King’s message would get lost in the midst of the many, many speeches.

But King’s message getting lost was far from what really concerned his staff and advisor’s. They were concerned with three issues. In order of importance these issues were: Mixing or tying together the Civil Rights and anti-war movements would be a disaster for the civil rights movement; speaking out against the war would divide SCLC and have significant impact on its fund raising capabilities; it would threaten to dissolve King’s and SCLC’s access to the White House which had taken considerable time and imagination to develop. In the minds of many inside SCLC, the fact that it was Bevel who had asked King  to speak was an added reason for King to reject the request,

In the early part of March King consulted with staff and key advisors in the New York City area about the UN protest. There was little support for his participation. One advisor pointed to the fact that Arnold Johnson, a member of the Communist Party, was on the planning committee and Mobilizations letterhead. Another feared violence at the event.

King listened and listened.

Back in Atlanta, on March 14 King informed his advisors and staff he was going to participate. From King’s and SCLC’s perspective their next concern was to ensure that King’s message did not get lost among all the other speeches on April 15. According to Pulitzer Prize winning author Taylor Branch, King’s top aide, Andrew Young managed to get an agreement from Bevel and the Mobilization that King would speak first and leave early” in order to avoid being associated with any of the more radical individuals and/or statements made from the platform.

Young then called Dr. John Bennett, President of Union Seminary and also Co-Chair of Clergy and Laity Concerned and agreed that Dr. King would give a lecture in the seminary chapel a few days in advance of the April 15 event. At Bennett’s suggestion Young called me so that we could, together, work out the details for King’s appearance. Young and I knew each other a little bit. When he called and explained what was going on I immediately understood the politics of what he said. I had and would continue to be an active planner and participant in a number of Mobilization efforts to end the war.

On the other hand, when Young mentioned King speaking at the Union Chapel I had some misgivings. King, the Vietnam War and the chapel…two big items and one small venue didn’t go together. I said, “How about Riverside Church instead?”  There was just a split moment of silence and he asked, “Do you think we can get it?”  I wasn’t sure but said I could try pointing out that King and the issue might scare the church, Bennett’s endorsement would be a big influence for a positive decision.

Young and I spoke about possible dates and then he suggested having others on the platform and speaking with King. He didn’t say it but I understood that if the politics on the stage at the April 15 were a mite scary, Young was envisioning a platform for King at Riverside Church that would give him positive cover. He suggested that I invite Bennett and Heschel and he would invite Henry Steele Commager, a pre-eminent history professor from Amherst College, to respond to Dr.King’s address.

The next couple of days were busy ones for me. We were able to secure Riverside Church on the evening of April 4, one of the dates on which Young and I had agreed. One my board members suggested that I call an Episcopal layman in New Jersey who he said was a “real professional press person.” I needed press help and when I called Fred Sontag he immediately said he’d pitch in and help with one condition: we had to have King’s speech three days in advance in order to distribute to the press around the country prior to the speech being given (this was all pre fax and pre computer time and everything had to be mailed). This was all new ground for me and I told Sontag I’d make sure we had the speech in time.

Young and I were easily able to secure Bennett, Heschel and Commager (he would pay his own way back from England where he was on sabbatical). Young also agreed with Fred Sontag’s stipulation which he seemed to understand better than I did.

Sontag was a real pro. Before the speech arrived (we had no idea it was there would be two authors) we had purchased and addressed to all the national media the large brown envelopes for the press release and speech. Fred actually drafted an outline of the release. We were going to mail to more than 500 press outlets, via overnight mail, a press release and a full copy of king’s speech. News outlets would be free to release the material at midnight on the evening of the event.

We received the King speech in two parts: the main part was written by Vincent Harding, of Spellman College and  John Maguire of Wesleyan contributed an important piece around the draft and the right of conscience. When we received the speech it was obvious in a few sections that someone other than Harding was the writer.  Fred and I, but mostly Fred, did some modest editing of the speech and Fred filled in the already outlined press release. With the help of Union student Barry Johnson, we reproduced the speech, press release, stuffed everything inside of envelopes, affixed stamps and delivered all 500 packets to the central post office in New York City at 2 A.M. on April 2.

King, Young and others from SCLC arrived in New York City in the early afternoon of April 4.and came directly to a press conference at the Overseas Press Club. It was Sontag’s idea to have the press conference in advance of King’s speech, although there was an April 4 12 P.M. embargo on the press conference itself. Sontag helped me realize that the longer King was in town for this speech, and Fred seemed to realize this from the beginning, the momentum and tension would increase very quickly. Trying to have a press conference immediately before the event would feel too crammed and attempting an after the event press conference would be impossible. Sontag’s understood all of this – I was running to catch up with this media pro.

King arrived with Andy Young at Union Seminary for a dinner with Bennett, Heschel, about twenty members of the Clergy and Laity board. At the press conference I handed King and Young one of our press packets. At the dinner table King pulled out the speech that had been prepared by Harding and Maguire and, with pen in hand, quickly scanned and made a few marks or notes down the side of the page. This occupied him for less than five minutes after which he put the speech back into his inside coat pocket.

Riverside Church was packed and electric in anticipation. Only later did I learn that were hundreds of people who couldn’t get into the event. Phil Scharper, another of our Co-Chairs, a Catholic layman, and the CEO of Sheed and Ward Publishers, was the master of ceremonies. After welcoming all, he introduced King. Over the next forty minute or so I listened in amazement. One would have thought that King had spent long hours writing and practicing the speech. Even more important, it was to become a tipping point in the anti war movement and, over the next several months as a result, generate a sea change in increased public opposition to the war.

Following a period of standing applause, Bennett, Heschel and Commager made brief and thoughtful responses to King’s remarks. However, by every measurement, it was King’s night. Next to his memorable “We Shall Overcome” speech at the March on Washington in 1964, his address at Riverside was his most remarkable. Some of us believe that it was even more important as it pointed toward the future task of dealing with racism, poverty and militarism.

Remarkable? That is not quite how others saw it.

Thanks to Fred Sontag, we had done an “excellent” job with the press. The primary aim of the Riverside Church initiative was to get Dr. King’s anti-war views into the public  square as clearly as possible before his speaking engagement at the U.N. on April 15. That mission was accomplished.  On April 5, 1967 Dr. King was blasted from east to west across the country .by newspapers, columnists, and TV and radio news. He was called a traitor, stupid for mixing the civil rights and anti-war movement together, a communist and the outrage went on and on. The only newspaper that gave any hint of understanding King, that we were able to identify through our Sontag-arranged press clipping service, was the Nashville Tennessean In an April 5 editorial they said that one would expect Dr. King, as a person who was committed to non-violence, to be against the war. We should not be surprised.

More chilling from King’s perspective was the way in which leaders from several national civil rights organizations turned on him. They did not want to see the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement connected. Their opposition had less to do with their individual opinions about the War in Vietnam and more to do with what they foresaw as a strategic mess and a potential fund raising catastrophe. King did speak at the May protest at the UN and his speech received only modest coverage.

A little over a week after the event I received a call from Andy Young. He wanted to know if Clergy and Laity Concerned would want to have Dr. King as one of its Co-Chairs. I tried to stay calm during the call and agreed to get back to him. It took less than a day for Clergy and Laity co-chairs to affirm Dr. King being named as a co-chair. He was able to attend two board meetings and a national gathering of the organization to protest the war in Washington. He was assassinated one year to the day after his speech at Riverside Church.