[Vnbiz] VTV1's Talk Vietnam (English) Tonight: Chuck Searcy, Project RENEW, Vietnam UXO Clearance & Victims

[AD Marshall]

VTV1's English-language "Talk Vietnam" program just aired an illuminating
episode featuring interviews with the VNBiz mailing list's own Chuck
Searcy.

The episode focused on Chuck's work as Vietnam representative of Project
RENEW, a effort to clear UXO (UneXploded Ordinance - bombs!) left in the
country and educate Vietnamese about the dangers of UXO.  But there were
also several illuminating, even inspiring moments in which the interviewer
delved more into Chuck's personal life in Vietnam.

At one point, Chuck listed some of the "lessons" he'd learned from living
here for the last dozen years, including one that could well have benefited
the desirable leadership qualities Chuck listed in an earlier post to this
list: ie, tolerance.

Overall, the impression of Chuck generated is of a man who's been there and
back, learned too much along the way, the hard way, but come out of it all
as huge human being, wizened and working well past the point most folks
would be packing it in, all to rectify some horrendous mistakes, if not
crimes, of his former "superiors", mistakes most others would have let slide
as simply not their personal responsibilities.

Spliced into the interview segments were commentary on ongoing tragedies
still plaguing Vietnam from the staggering quantities of American War Era
(AWE) UXO littered across the country, especially in Quang Tri Province,
along with documentary footage of US AWE bombing runs and recent news clips
covering the deadly work of today's Vietnamese sappers and the heart-rending
injuries and disabilities of ongoing victims of UXO detonations, especially
children.

A couple eye-opening bytes Chuck provided (which may or may not have be
remembered accurately):

   - likely well over 100,000 Vietnamese have been blown to bits or
   brutally maimed by US AWE UXO since 1975
   - the US dropped more bombs than on Quang Tri province alone, an area
   of just some 100 by 150 kilometers, than were dropped on all of Europe in
   World War II

Project RENEW is managed by the US Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF).
An overview of the project, fact sheets and newsletters can be obtain from
RENEW's project page at the VVMF web site [
http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=21 ].

Excerpted from that page:
For more information about Project RENEWTM, please visit
www.landmines.org.vn or contact the Memorial Fund at (202) 393-0090 or via
email at ProjectRENEW at vvmf.org<../mail?view=cm&tf=0&to=ProjectRENEW at vvmf.org>.
To support Project RENEWTM, visit our *Donate
page<http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=5>
*.

While neither the new or old VTV web sites appear to provide schedules or
other information about "Talk Vietnam", VTV1 programming schedules listed at
http://www.itv.vn/Television/Schedule/ state the next episode of the program
is to be aired at 2007.Aug.09.Thu.07h45.ICT.  There's a good chance the
interview with Chuck may be re-run at that time.

-- 
AD (Andi) Marshall
Mobile: +84 (0) 903871313
eMail: admarshall at gmail.com
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Post: HoChiMinh City (ex/or SaiGon), VietNam
Quote: "Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none..."
Source: Shakespeare, 1623, "All's Well That Ends Well"
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