Learn more about Project RENEW at www.landmines.org.vn.
For self-described “Georgia boy” Chuck Searcy, now 69, the Vietnam War did not end when his Army tour ended in mid-1968 — or in 1975 when helicopters evacuated the last U.S. soldiers from Saigon.
He’s still fighting it, and has lived in Vietnam since 1995, trying to save Vietnamese from death or injury from the 350,000 tons of unexploded bombs, grenades and other ordnance left behind across the country, Searcy told a hushed group of 150 students at Georgia State University recently.
Searcy returned to Vietnam in 1992 to take part in humanitarian efforts that he didn’t realize would turn into his life’s passion and career.
In the beginning, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the famous Wall in Washington, supported Project RENEW, aimed at preventing death and injury from unexploded U.S. ordnance.
He told the students that 10 percent of 15 million tons of bombs dropped across Vietnam never exploded, and have killed or maimed more than 100,000 people since the U.S. pulled out.
Searcy said he’s also working to help the millions of Vietnamese who have or are suffering from diseases caused by Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used to clear jungles.
“Some of this stuff will be in place for the next 1,000 years,” he said. “Children see things and pick them up. So do people who are salvagers. Others just step on explosives or plow them up. It’s a huge problem.”
The VVMF has turned the project over to the Norwegian People’s Aid, an international group. Searcy said RENEW’s staff has grown from four to over 100.
“It happens in every war,” Searcy said. “Kids will still be getting blown up in Iraq and Afghanistan 20 years from now.”
Searcy was invited to speak to John Southard’s history class by Larry Berman, founding dean of the Honors College at GSU. Both are experts on Vietnam.
“It’s important for students to know about the continuing legacies from war involving the challenge of cluster bombs, land mines and other explosive remnants,” Berman said. “Project RENEW exemplifies the very best humanitarian efforts in dealing with these challenges.”
Southard said it is “shocking to know all the ordnance is still there. I’m not sure how much my students know about the war so I wanted them to see the talk.”
Searcy was assisted in his lecture by two Vietnamese colleagues, Ngo Xuan Hien and Luong Tuan Hung, whose parents fought against Americans.
“I witnessed in my childhood some of my adult neighbors and schoolmates being torn apart because of bombs and mines,” said Hien. “We welcome American citizens to come and work with us for one or two weeks … (and) raise money” that can be earmarked for the project.
Searcy said he feels he’s doing work that is desperately needed.
“The Vietnamese people like us,” he said. “They do not hold grudges.”
He said he returned because of the “utter devastation” he witnessed as a soldier.
“I want to stay to make sure Vietnam is safe,” he said. “We want to build awareness. Awareness leads to donations. And we need a lot of money.”
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