I am drawn to the young girl who has been captured in time

Photograph of the Luscombe Airfield in Nui Dat, chosen by Lauren Smith as a special image from the trip to Vietnam.

Lauren writes:

 It’s hard to believe that this was a scene of noise, fast-paced militarism.

In the midst of the Nui Dat countryside, along a worn out road, a little girl walks peacefully home for her midday siesta. It’s hard to believe that this was a scene of noise, fast-paced militarism.

Luscombe Airfield, Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam was built by Australian Engineers in late 1966. The airfield honoured the late Captain Bryan Luscombe, a well-known aviator who was KIA during the Korean War.

Like much of the modern-day Vietnamese landscape, this image is a stark contrast to aerial records of the airfield in 1966-67. The surroundings were dense with trees and shrubbery, the foliage an everlasting greenness that merges into jungle gullies and hills. On the outskirts, an ochre coloured dirt that would transform into a sticky glue during the monsoon season. Situated in the middle, a single grey strip with a plane that looks too big for it ready for take-off.

Today, however, is a different story. The Vietnamese, known for their recycling ability, now use this airstrip as a road within the township. Ironically, situated at the end of the runway is a primary school: a sanctuary of safety, nourishment and learning – quite different to it’s initial role some fifty years ago.

When I reflect on this photo I am drawn to the young girl who has been captured in time. She is the next generation of Vietnamese and a generation who have not directly witnessed the death, destruction and fear that her parents and grandparents would have been exposed to. Nevertheless, the ongoing ramifications of the war will continue to impact her.

She seems so innocent and untouched by the horrors of war. She walks safely across a strip that, decades earlier, aired helicopters and airplanes responsible for Vietnamese casualties and the destruction of the local environment.

Vietnam seems to be recovering and prospering and is embodying their principle of building. So too, are the population, who are reconciling as a nation as well as with their enemy (as evident in Bob’s numerous encounters). Vietnam is a happier place and it begs the question as to whether the war changed the course of Vietnamese history or merely delayed the inevitable. The country has seen many invaders and occupiers in last hundred years or so. Hopefully, the future generations can go about life without the worry of war and death like this little school girl is.