Wandering Souls

February 10th, 1970

Deep successful the forests betwixt Saigon and Cambodia.

In Vietnam, it’s believed that if you died

Far distant from your loved ones,

far distant from home,

You were cursed

To aimlessly rotation the onshore successful purgatory.

Tormenting everyone that’s forgotten you.

Blocked from passing connected

into the tone world,

to yet stop, and sleep.

Wandering Souls Tape: Hai ! Hai !

Viet Cong Soldier 1: ‘Did you perceive that?’

VC Soldier 2: ‘It’s everywhere! All astir us!’

Unless you were found,

whatever that was near of you that remained recognizable,

Wandering Souls Tape: “Daddy! Daddy! Come location with me, travel home. Daddy! Daddy!”

Wandering Souls Tape: “Hai ! Who is that? Who is calling me? My daughter? My wife?”

VC Soldier 1: ‘Trời Ơi’

Wandering Souls Tape: “Your Father is backmost location with you, my girl

Your Husband is backmost location with you, my wife.

But my assemblage is gone.”

And brought backmost to your family
for a accepted burial

in your homeland.

In Vietnam, ‘homeland’, and ‘water’ are corporate experiences truthful connected

that they stock the aforesaid connection - ‘nước’.

Water is astatine the bosom of its instauration myth, a communicative that radical unrecorded alongside inactive today.

Vietnam’s landforms are sculpted by its monsoon seasons,

Its coastline is shaped by oversea level rise,

Its rivers enactment its agrarian system

and link its commercialized routes.

But a corporate aforesaid conception bonded to thing arsenic elementally mercurial and unstable arsenic water,

Lạc Long Quân Dragon (Nguy?n Trãi quote)- “Like the water which supports a vessel but tin besides overturn it”

Encourages an imaginativeness of itself that perpetually evades arriving astatine immoderate resolution.

Solidifying into immoderate definition.

Properties that volition person thing

to bash with you and inactive assertion you

Or that you mightiness

claim arsenic your own.

Lạc Long Quân Dragon (Nguy?n Trãi quote)- “so the radical tin enactment the throne oregon descend it.”

Australian (A): (off panel) Oi, there’s this cave truthful large it has its ain clouds.

I don’t cognize if they’re my ain beliefs,

or thing I picked up,

or a publication I inherited,

A: I got a suit tailored, inexpensive arsenic chips. Do you deterioration Pjs? Silk pjs?

Matt (M): Geez, however could you adjacent accidental that? What’s the substance with you?

but I don’t request to question

them to assertion them arsenic my own.

A : It’s conscionable a hop, skip and a leap from here, it’s bully value. What are you acrophobic of?

M: I’m not afraid. Maybe a spot acrophobic of crossing the road…

They vibrate successful my skull, carving well-worn paths each clip they’re rehearsed

A: Maaate, I could amusement you ‘round!

And instrumentality a look. I don’t adjacent cognize Vietnamese

For the accidental to gaffe retired done my teeth,

turning into waves done the air.

M: There’s nary mode I’m picking retired model seats for a formation backmost to precisely wherever my folks sacrificed everything to leave, with 2 babies successful their arms and immoderate jewelry down their pants.

MUM: What a slap successful the face! For you, it’s a holiday, but -

It doesn’t dependable similar me.

I recognise it still, oregon recognise

It’s thing I person to protect

A: Yeah but, for you, it’s your homeland. Don’t y’wanna spell backmost to the parent country?

What my parents would want.

They talk consecutive done me

MUM: ‘Back’ is not the absorption we’re going, no.

I’m not unhappy wherever I am, trời ơi…

A: Oi, I’m from present mate. I’ll ever telephone Australia home, I’m settled.

M: …I…

It didn’t substance if I couldn’t spot

what oregon who I was hearing. Or if I tried

ignoring it, avoiding it, moving from it.

MUM: Thôi không muốn nói chuyện nữa. Don’t you similar it successful Australia?

M: …I…

Being confronted my interior dependable

let escaped from my caput and heart

was capable to rattle done maine

A: I reckon you’re conscionable acrophobic they won’t spot you arsenic Vietnamese

and past you’ll won’t person anyplace to go.

A: Well large whoop.
They’re gonna spot consecutive done ya soon arsenic they springiness ya a speedy once-over.

‘n conjecture what? They’re not wrong.

But you’ll beryllium gone again soon ‘nuff.

When I moved to the United States, mum

acted similar she’d ne'er spot maine again.

Mum: Will you travel backmost home?

And said things I’d ne'er heard before.

Mum: “Love you Matt”

To placate the wandering souls from

dragging misfortune into their homes,

the Vietnamese would spot offerings

at the ft of their beforehand doors.

Wandering Souls Day is celebrated each

year to grant ancestors and mothers.

The Buddhist festival grew from the communicative

of however Mục-kiền-liên rescued his mother.

PHONE: “your telephone could not beryllium connected.

Please cheque the fig

and effort again”

When Mục-kiền-liên recovered his

mother was starving successful Hell,

he smuggled bowls of atom to her.

Each clip helium brought the atom to her

mouth, it would burst into flames.

The Buddha advised that Mục-kiền-liên could escaped his

mother and different wandering souls from their torment

by gathering devotees to commune and marque offerings.

Me: Hello? Hellooooo…?

Mum: WHO IS THAT, WHO IS CALLING ME?

Me: Má? Ma? MA!

Mum: MM. OOH, ‘THEW OI ‘THEW, Cái gì? WHAT’S THE MATTER?

Me: NOTHING, I’M JUST CALLING – !

On Wandering Souls Day, woody sticks and

gongs would beryllium struck to invitation tortured spirits

to offerings of rice, fruit, sweets, alcohol.

MUM: What clip is it successful NY? Are you lonely successful the US?

Do you miss us? How are your aged friends?

Have you eaten atom yet? Are you strong, no? Mập mập? Do you request money?

The past burial of servants, wives and tools with the deceased had evolved into the burning of symbolic votive insubstantial replicas, to walk implicit possessions for the deceased’s payment into their adjacent life.

Gold gilded replica bamboo insubstantial wealth would beryllium burnt to

settle the deceased’s motivation debts oregon bribe distant their sins.

MUM: NO NO DON’T SEND ANYTHING! DON’T WORRY ABOUT US, SAVE YOUR MONEY. YOU NEED IT.

M: Ma, wherefore were you picking up and hanging up, I’ve been calling…

Mum: I TH OUGHT IT WAS THOSE DEVILISH MARKETERS

M: WHY ARE YOU YELLING?

Mum: THEY WON’T STOP CALLING

M: MA I CAN HEAR YOU

Lotus lanterns were lit and released connected the stream

to usher the wandering souls connected to the adjacent

stage awaiting them successful the afterlife.

A corporate look of profoundly held spiritual values that has ingrained a shared content successful ‘hiếu’, or filial piety, and reverence for elders and ancestors.

A(off panel): What were you banging connected about?

M: I wasn’t yelling, that’s conscionable what my Vietnamese sounds like

A: Is that right? That wherefore I ne'er perceive you talk successful your parent tongue? You truly shouldn’t!

The US Army’s 6th Psychological Operations Battalion and the US Navy exploited this superstition

(Leaflet 23) -

Dear Compatriots of North Vietnam,The Wandering Souls holidays are approaching.

Stop this warfare of aggression

With a intelligence warfare run designed to demoralize the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong into deserting their posts and surrendering.

(Leaflet 23) -

suffering nether the ruthless authorities of the Godless communists.

US Military engineers spent weeks successful a Saigon workplace signaling South Vietnamese soldiers pretending to beryllium slain North Vietnamese soldiers howling from beyond the grave.

VOICE ACTORS: ooOOooo

The actors recorded successful hollow echo chambers,

GHOST TAPE: “I americium dead…I americium dead…I americium successful Hell ... conscionable Hell

their voices reverberating until they grew larger than life.

GHOST TAPE:

But erstwhile I realized the truth, it was excessively late…too late

Friends ...while you are inactive live ... There is inactive a accidental that you tin beryllium reunited with your loved ones

Do you perceive what I say? Go location ...Go location friends Hurry …

VOICE ACTOR: If not, you volition extremity up similar maine Go location my friends earlier it is excessively late

If the Americans weren’t convinced that signaling dependable actors successful hollow echo chambers would beryllium capable to walk for sojourn from the afterlife,

GHOST: Go home! Go location friends!

Then they would marque definite with the wailing cries of women and children,

GHOST TAPE: Ve Di ! ... ! Ve Di Ban! !!

The buddhist chanting,

The howling upwind and gongs and cymbals of a ceremonial dirge

GHOST TAPE: “VE DI !! ... !! VE DI !!”

When rumors dispersed of tiger attacks successful the mountains of Vietnam, the 6th PSYOP Battalion had a aviator alert to a Bangkok zoo to grounds a tiger’s roar and had it mixed into the tape.

VC SOLDIERS: Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

These elaborate productions dressed up

profoundly idiosyncratic spiritual beliefs, and blasted them

From the backpacks of camouflaged soldiers,

The tops of thenar frond trees,

Floating down the Delta

Hung from machine-gun mounting of Huey helicopters.

From 8pm, up to 8 hours each night.
Penetrating the hearts and shaking the spirits of everyone successful earshot

US SOLDIER: They are not equipped to fell from us, getting into their heads!

North Vietnamese Fighter: “Of people it affected our spirits. Imagine being separated from your household for years, proceeding those voices unsocial successful the dark. Did we truly not cognize they were tapes? They made america deliberation of what we missed. But then, it made america privation to proceed warring back.”

Villager/farmer: “The VC Cadres were driving disconnected the spirits with their bullets! But if we didn’t surrender the VC shooters to the Americans, the spirits would ne'er permission our household alone.”

South Vietnamese soldier: “What if it were me? Where would my psyche rest?”

US SOLDIER: We drew fire every azygous clip we played the tapes.

So we started sending gunships to combat back.

Spirits, that I don’t cognize about.

But the rockets we were dodging, those were decidedly real.

It was not that the Vietnamese needfully believed they were genuinely witnessing the dormant travel backmost to haunt them. The sounds mightiness person been artificial, but it stirred up fears and beliefs that were precise real.

Forever being torn isolated from family.

Dying unsocial and forgotten.

Never travel location again.

Never resting

US Soldier: This batch can’t separate betwixt a cassette portion and Casper! The Vietnamese worker walking disconnected the atom paddy and onto the battlefield can’t fathom the exertion they’re facing!

MUM: Can you perceive me? I can’t spot you, are you there? I don’t cognize however to fto you spot me. ‘Thew oi ‘thew, bash I look older, hm?

M: I’m present Ma. You look the aforesaid ma, nary of america are going back. Are you strong? Happy?

MUM: Don’t worry, we’re the aforesaid arsenic always. Nothing’s changed. I conscionable sit. I’m old, I can’t locomotion truthful much. The doc looked astatine my back. My knees. My blood. heart. It’s senseless. They’ll conscionable marque it worse. There’s thing to do.

HANOI HANNAH (HH):This is the Voice of Vietnam Broadcasting from Hanoi, superior of the Democratic republic of Vietnam.

How are you, GI Joe?

Since the archetypal US Marine crushed troops acceptable ft connected Da Nang, Radio Hanoi targeted American soldiers with a peculiar English broadcast connected ‘Voice of Vietnam’.

The People’s Army of Vietnam’s authorities section spoke done Trịnh Thị Ngọ,

who called herself Thu Hương due to the fact that it had little syllables for non-Vietnamese listeners to grasp.

Her American listeners had different names for her.

‘Wicked Witch of the North’

‘Dragon Lady’

‘Hanoi Hannah’

HH: “I lone heard the sanction Hanoi Hannah later. Hanoi begins with an H; Hannah

begins with an H. Americans similar nicknames.”

‘Hanoi Hannah’ was timed to greet soldiers returning from the battlefield,

typically starting astatine 8pm each night.

HH: “Intelligent American GIs, wherefore person you travel to Vietnam?

Your authorities has betrayed you. You volition ne'er decision the forces of our Fatherland. It seems to maine that astir of you are poorly informed astir the going of the war. ”

As her popularity grew, her broadcasts were repeated passim the day, waking prisoners of warfare successful the morning.

HH: “Do you person a watch, American servicemen? Look astatine it, the minutes are ticking away. Soon your clip volition halt successful Vietnam. There is thing present for you but decision and death.”

POW (John McCain) successful ‘Hanoi Hilton’: “Ha! She should beryllium successful Hollywood!”

HH: “Why are you here?”

HH: “When you beryllium unsocial astatine nighttime and deliberation of your loved ones, our gallant soldiers are watching you. You cannot escape.”

Look astatine the photos of your loved ones, American soldier. Do you miss them? Do you miss your parents? Your wife? Your children? What volition they bash erstwhile your imperialist authorities tells them you died successful Vietnam?

MUM: DO YOU HAVE WORK?

ME: I’m moving each the clip ma

MUM: DO YOU HAVE MONEY? WE CAN SEND MONEY, OR CLOTHES?

ME: …No no, don’t nonstop anything!

MUM: WE DON’T HAVE ANY USE FOR IT! WELL WHEN WILL YOU COME HOME?

MUM: LISTEN. ‘THEW OI ‘THEW. YOU’VE BEEN AWAY 4 YEARS.

ME: ai ma biet

MUM: ai mà biết?

ME: I’m applying for a visa and then…

MUM: 3 MORE YEARS.

ME: and past I tin enactment capable to…

MUM: WILL YOU COME BACK OR DO YOU LIVE IN AMERICA NOW?

ME: I can’t spend to spell backmost and I can’t adjacent spend to enactment present and I don’t cognize if I’ll beryllium capable to spend being back…I’m stuck…I…I…

MUM: YOU LIVE IN THE US NOW. YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR ROOF FIRST.

But dissimilar the US PSYOP’s piercing frequencies, Hanoi Hannah enticed soldiers to perceive by offering a soft, pistillate dependable that was not excessively friendly, not excessively tough, not excessively shrill.

In an American accented English perfected nether the tutelage of an Australian writer mentor and subtitled Hollywood films.

Wilfred Burchett (off panel) - They’re gonna spot consecutive done ya soon arsenic they springiness ya a speedy once-over, ‘n conjecture what? They’re not wrong. But you’ll beryllium gone again soon ‘nuff.

HH (holding US Army Stars and Stripes newspaper)

Even if the soldiers didn’t judge her exaggerated reports of American casualties, they couldn’t defy tuning successful for the tunes. Especially erstwhile she played songs that the US Army Radio wouldn’t play

HH : “Now here’s Connie Francis singing “I astir mislaid my mind”

And said each the things US Army Radio wouldn’t say

HH: “GI Joe, They are questioning wherefore you are here. In America determination is nary unity, determination is violence, determination are protests against you.

Detroit has been occupied by 3 subject divisions. They sprout your brothers backmost location with the aforesaid M1 Carbines that you constituent astatine us.

HH: They turned your sniper’s .50 caliber instrumentality weapon from a vessel into four-year-old Tanya Blanding’s surviving country and murdered her. Your ain weapons pointed astatine your ain radical successful your ain homes. Why are you warring here?

Things that felt impossibly adjacent to home, that no-one other could cognize oregon would archer them.

HH: “congratulations to Lieutenant Miller, it’s excessively atrocious helium won’t marque his

23rd Birthday.”

SOLDIERS: (throwing cans astatine radio) BOOOOO!

HH: And sympathies to First Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division GIs Tim

Rickly, William Mitchell, Eugene Shannon Jr…

SOLDIER 1: “She’s got ears everywhere-!” “How did she know?”

SOLDIER 2: “I gave her a ringing and she couldn’t hold - How could she bash this to me”

SOLDIER 3: “That settles it, you’re successful nary signifier to spell retired warring tomorrow. News similar this, it’s atrocious luck.”

On April 30th, 1975, ‘Hanoi Hannah’ was the archetypal idiosyncratic successful the satellite to study the Fall of Saigon.

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: “I’m dreaming of a achromatic Christmas

Just similar the ones I utilized to know
Where the histrion tops glisten

And children listen

To perceive sleigh bells successful the snow, oh, the snow”

Captain Gerald Berry: “I repeat, US Ambassador Graham Martin is out, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!”

‘Hanoi Hannah’ joined a South Vietnamese antheral and followed him from Hanoi to Saigon.

HH: “Saigon is liberated. Vietnam is wholly autarkic and unified.”

Her lad escaped successful 1973, portion of the question of vessel radical fleeing the country.

HH: “I don’t privation to speech overmuch astir my son. He likes to go a painter. He went determination (US) earlier of his ain will. I don’t nonstop him. Even I don’t privation him to spell distant from the family. But helium likes it, truthful helium went away”

200,000 to 400,000 died astatine sea.

They volition ne'er beryllium located, ne'er identified, ne'er reunited with their families.

It’s hard to ideate astir of those that died connected the battlefield volition be, either.

Even without a carnal beingness aft the evacuations, the US continued to punish Vietnam with decades of economical sanctions.

That were lone eased erstwhile Vietnam agreed to US demands to found an bureau to find and instrumentality the remains of American soldiers.

The increasing system made it imaginable for Vietnamese families to self-fund searches.

No analogous authoritative centralized effort exists to find the bodies of Vietnamese soldiers privately.

Locating Vietnamese remains were focused connected identifying wide graves. US Veterans returned decades aboriginal to assistance find the razed battlefields, unmarked graves and bulldozed cemeteries, to observe they had since been built and planted over.

ME: A residency is similar a…

MUM: LIKE A HOUSE!

M: No, it’s similar I spell acold distant to enactment connected my art

MUM: WHO PAYS YOU

M: No, they springiness maine a spot to stay, a bed, food,

MUM: HOW MUCH DO YOU GET PAID

M: NO IT’S LIKE AN AWARD

MUM: ARE YOU GOING BY YOURSELF
M: MA IT’S OK, I’M JUST CALLING TO TELL YOU I’LL BE AWAY AND YOU CAN’T

HEAR FROM ME FOR A WHILE

MUM: WHY DONT YOU WORK FROM HOME? WHAT DO YOU DO THERE?

M: IT’S SO I CAN BE LEFT ALONE

MUM: tầm bậy tầm bạ, ai mà lo cho mày

Despite accelerated development, and contempt astir Vietnamese identifying arsenic irreligious non-believers, Wandering Souls Day, and the content successful ghosts, is inactive wide observed.

The rituals remain, adjacent if they are hardly recognizable nether the power of Vietnam displacement to marketplace economies, Western capitalism and opening to a planetary economy.

Joss wealth is inactive burnt, but replica Vietnamese currency has been banned and replica US dollars are preferred.

MUM: DON’T WORRY ABOUT US. WE’RE AT HOME, WE’RE THE SAME. YOU WORRY ABOUT MAKING MONEY. YOU CAN’T MAKE A LIVING IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS, YOU HAVE TO DO THAT IN AMERICA. KEEP GOING.

Dollars are worthy much and are much easy exchanged and spent anywhere, adjacent the afterlife.

MUM: AH! ‘THEW, LISTEN. THIS ARRIVED FOR YOU…CAN YOU SEE?

M: WHAT IS IT? CAN YOU READ IT?

MUM: IT CAME THREE MONTHS AGO.

Gongs would beryllium struck, offering mislaid spirits a mode backmost home.

M: MA, I HAVEN’T LIVED THERE IN OVER TEN YEARS, IT’S PROBABLY JUNK MAIL

MUM: … OK, OK. IT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT. I’LL KEEP IT FOR YOU.

MUM: Thôi. Đừng co lo nghe. Nhớ ăn nhé. Đi ngủ đi. GO BACK TO SCHOOL. GET MARRIED. BUY A CAR. HAVE CHILDREN.

Lotus lanterns carrying prayers are released connected bodies of water,

MUM: BUILD YOUR OWN HOME.

to airy the mode for wandering souls to a peaceful beingness successful immoderate satellite awaits them next.