Just remember the dismembered
Martin Doyle
WE are heartless animals.
Perhaps that’s not strictly true. Strictly speaking, humans are totally heartless animals. Instead of real hearts, we have holes. And the holes register nothing and remember nothing. Our TV newscasters are great at reporting “atrocities” and “human interest” stories and we sit there oohing or aahhing (and quickly forgetting) all the over-hyped titbits. But it’s always bits, never the whole story; limbs only, never the full Monty. So this week, I will try to join a few of the bits together, re-membering, you could say, the dismembered.
In Wellington, we love rowing and we love yachting. So there was something extra poignant seeing a NZ Olympic rower Rob Hamill going to Cambodia to attend the trial of Kaing Guek Eav who ran a prison in the 1970s in which 12,000 people were tortured, then executed. One of the victims was Rob’s brother, Kerry. Kerry was neither a protester nor a soldier in those war-torn days; he was just an innocent Kiwi yachtie who happened to get blown into Cambodian waters where he and two crewmates were tortured and killed.
For me, Rob’s journey also uncovered some other chilling facts that we in New Zealand have never known (or apparently have no feeling about). One day, Rob attended a Buddhist service in memory of the victims of the Khmer Rouge. This is where words and numbers become weak and inadequate for capturing the truth. But we should try, because New Zealand has been passionately involved in all stages of all military conflicts in South-east Asia. We have our own honourable dead, but the local toll is colossal...
The Korean War claimed 2.8 million lives. The Vietnam War overflowed into Laos and Cambodia. And in the destabilised milieu of a nation under sustained bombardment, the Khmer Rouge were able to seize power in Cambodia. The end result of hostilities across the three bordering countries was: 3 million people died in Vietnam; 1.7 million people died in Cambodia. I haven’t been able to find a number for Laos, but our side managed to drop 260 million bombs on Laos over a nine-year period. They exceeded the total weight of bombs dropped in the whole of the Second World War. But 80 million of these bombs did not explode when they landed, and continue to ignite even today. Dozens of farmers die every year, even now, because of them. It’s a land where it doesn’t pay to dig too deep.
God, forgive...We also spread 45 million litres of the deadly chemical Agent Orange over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Orange killed hundreds of thousands, affected millions, and in 2010 continues to deform babies at birth. The Red Cross says 150,000 people in Vietnam alone have been born horribly deformed. Some of the photos of these people would make you cry (no matter who you are).
We’re not really animals. But some of our own actions don’t bear much thinking about either.
Let’s just forget.
Perhaps that’s not strictly true. Strictly speaking, humans are totally heartless animals. Instead of real hearts, we have holes. And the holes register nothing and remember nothing. Our TV newscasters are great at reporting “atrocities” and “human interest” stories and we sit there oohing or aahhing (and quickly forgetting) all the over-hyped titbits. But it’s always bits, never the whole story; limbs only, never the full Monty. So this week, I will try to join a few of the bits together, re-membering, you could say, the dismembered.
In Wellington, we love rowing and we love yachting. So there was something extra poignant seeing a NZ Olympic rower Rob Hamill going to Cambodia to attend the trial of Kaing Guek Eav who ran a prison in the 1970s in which 12,000 people were tortured, then executed. One of the victims was Rob’s brother, Kerry. Kerry was neither a protester nor a soldier in those war-torn days; he was just an innocent Kiwi yachtie who happened to get blown into Cambodian waters where he and two crewmates were tortured and killed.
For me, Rob’s journey also uncovered some other chilling facts that we in New Zealand have never known (or apparently have no feeling about). One day, Rob attended a Buddhist service in memory of the victims of the Khmer Rouge. This is where words and numbers become weak and inadequate for capturing the truth. But we should try, because New Zealand has been passionately involved in all stages of all military conflicts in South-east Asia. We have our own honourable dead, but the local toll is colossal...
The Korean War claimed 2.8 million lives. The Vietnam War overflowed into Laos and Cambodia. And in the destabilised milieu of a nation under sustained bombardment, the Khmer Rouge were able to seize power in Cambodia. The end result of hostilities across the three bordering countries was: 3 million people died in Vietnam; 1.7 million people died in Cambodia. I haven’t been able to find a number for Laos, but our side managed to drop 260 million bombs on Laos over a nine-year period. They exceeded the total weight of bombs dropped in the whole of the Second World War. But 80 million of these bombs did not explode when they landed, and continue to ignite even today. Dozens of farmers die every year, even now, because of them. It’s a land where it doesn’t pay to dig too deep.
God, forgive...We also spread 45 million litres of the deadly chemical Agent Orange over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Orange killed hundreds of thousands, affected millions, and in 2010 continues to deform babies at birth. The Red Cross says 150,000 people in Vietnam alone have been born horribly deformed. Some of the photos of these people would make you cry (no matter who you are).
We’re not really animals. But some of our own actions don’t bear much thinking about either.
Let’s just forget.
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