Long Live the Glorious Communist Party!

February 10, 2025

If you grew up in the late '60s or early '70s, deep in the Cold War era, the word Vietnam likely triggers an instinctive reaction—one shaped by war, brutality (on both sides), and the looming specter of communism. That’s certainly true for me. And while I’d love to say I’ve shed those ingrained associations, traveling in Vietnam has proven otherwise.

Despite visiting the country many times and having nothing but positive interactions with locals, I still catch myself reacting when I see the red flags with the yellow hammer and sickle or socialist posters. (See? I almost called them propaganda posters.) I even Google-translated some, only to find their messages fairly benign. Yet decades of Cold War-era conditioning doesn't fade overnight.

I compensate, perhaps absurdly, by being extra nice to locals—as if that might somehow make up for the unconscious biases they don’t even know I’m wrestling with. I wonder, do other Americans from my generation experience this too? Or is it just me?

Curiously, when I asked my European friends what Vietnam evokes for them, the war was a historical footnote. Mostly, they picture a tropical paradise with beautiful beaches, not unlike what I think about when I hear "Thailand" or "The Philippines".

Fellow Americans of a certain age, does this resonate? And for non-Americans, is Vietnam just another travel destination, unburdened by the weight of history?