Today we woke early and drove two hours to the Cu Chi tunnels. The drive was pretty awful because Jason and I ate something bad yesterday and were up all night...I'll spare the details. I thought I'd be fine. I wasn't. But I sucked it up like a big girl and made the drive with the family. Although I will say TB was better behaved than I.

The Cu Chi tunnels were quite interesting. Spanning three levels from 3-18 meters deep the tunnels were built by hand using small shovels and bamboo baskets by the Cu Chi people to protect the Viet Cong. I've mentioned before how interesting Vietnam history is and I'll give you a very rudimental history lesson. Ok so you had the North (Viet Minh) vs South (Army of Vietnam or ARVN). Ho Chi Minh ruled the North and Diem ruled the South. North were communists and South were capitalists. Americans allied with Diem in the South against communism. Then there were the Viet Cong people who were the communists of the South and most were uneducated peasant farmers. They allied with the other communists in the North and fought against the ARVN in the South, and they hated Americans. They wanted America to GTFO of Vietnam and let them do their own thing. Here come the Cu Chi tunnels, which were near Saigon in the South. Viet Cong people lived in the tunnels, hiding in them during the day and coming out at night to attack American soldiers. Nearly 100% had intestinal parasites and more people died of malaria and other disease than from the war. The tunnels were tiny and fit Vietnamese but typical US forces were unable to get inside easily so the US military trained small men and they called them "tunnel rats". Dad said a lot of them were Mexican American but I couldn't find any data to prove that. Oh and women guerillas also fought for the Viet Cong.

This area was used because of the clay soil, which made the tunnels very stable. The proximity near Saigon in the South made it so easy to attack the ARVN. Also the tunnels were near the Cambodia border, which allowed North Vietnamese communists to travel into Cambodia and make their way down then re-enter in the South.

It was extremely hot but I am glad we went for sure! We came back to the city and had a Banh Mi for lunch then relaxed at the hotel for a bit before meeting up with Paul. Who's Paul, you ask?

Paul Blizard is a retired American teacher, pastor, and serious history buff, who lives in Saigon with his wife volunteering in orphanages. He knows everything there is about the Vietnam War and with his interest in orphans he is especially interested in Operation Babylift and agreed to meet with us and talk about what happened that day and around that time. We spent more than two hours with him today learning about the crash and events leading up to it. (Will explain all in tomorrow's newsletter) He also is an avid photographer and does pretty impressive before and after shots of the city of Saigon during the war and present day. Paul is a kind man with a wealth of knowledge and he was patient enough to answer every question dad and Jason had.

After our visit dad wanted to go to a German restaurant for dinner (typical) but TB was napping and I still wasn't feeling well so we ordered Pho for room service and retired early.

Interesting fact: Our hotel, the Park Hyatt, is the same hotel where they broadcasted DJ Adrian Cronauer's show that the movie Good Morning Vietnam is based off of.

Tomorrow is a big day. Stay tuned.