Journey to Viet Nam
Ed Tick first led a group to Viet Nam in the year 2000. Since the original journey, he has been back annually to offer healing pilgrimages for veterans, family members and other interested community and healthcare providers. He now leads fall trips through Soldier’s Heart with his wife and partner, Kate Dahlstedt. Soldier’s Heart Journey to Viet Nam Spring 2010 John Fisher, Doctor of Chiropractic, Vietnam veteran and author, co-facilitated this years spring trip with his wife and partner Lindsley Field, Certified Trager Practitioner, Reki Master/teacher, aromatherapist and Shamanic healer. Together they have over 50 years of clinical expertise and were joined by eight participants, three of whom were also body workers with skills in orthopedic massage, Shiatsu, Cranio-Sacral, yoga and Reki. As with all Soldier’s Heart journeys, reconciliation for veterans and family members along with a focus on Vietnamese spirituality/culture is the primary concern, but in addition the spring journey brings on the opportunity to share clinical holistic healthcare, which is not readily available in Vietnam. As the trip began to unfold, a very collaborative relationship began to develop overseas. Through synchronistic connections on the Internet, the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) discovered the upcoming venture and asked for help in their sponsored Agent Orange villages and schools. Four of the six clinics offered this year were partnered with the VVAF with the other two being an elderly home in Hoi Anh and Friendship Village in Hanoi, also an Agent Orange facility. Close to 1000 patients were seen. Agent Orange is one of the chemicals sprayed by the American military during the Vietnam War. Used to defoliate the jungles where the enemy was hiding, C-130 aircraft were sprayed the herbisides onto the countryside. Each plane could destroy 350 acres of forest and a spray run took less than 4 minutes, used 1,000 gallons of chemical and was often sprayed by 3 planes flying side by side. That meant 1 run equaled 1,000 acres of jungle destroyed. There were 19.4 million gallons sprayed in all, 11.7 million gallons of that being Agent Orange, which was made from dioxin. Unfortunately, the toxic effects of the mission, called Operation Ranch Hand, still remains evident both on the land and in the society of Vietnam. Today there are thousands of disabled Vietnamese as a result of earlier generations consumption of the poisoned food and water supplies, not to mention those who were directly sprayed. Many American and their allied forces have experienced generational disabilities too, but none worse than those who live in the damaged terrain itself. The U.S. Government is just now starting to deal with some of the issues related with American veterans, but so far it has only been the special interest groups that have helped the Vietnamese. Soldier’s Heart clinics were set up to service patients in an orderly and efficient manner with all trip participants contributing in the process. “I know we’re all here to care for these people, but it is a very healing experience for us too,” commented a non-therapist member of our group. “I feel energized because our group is transforming the care and access that those living with dioxin exposure in Viet Nam are getting,” reflected one of the therapists. Dr. Fisher has done this work in the country he once fought against on five different trips, Lindsley on three, and they both share the healing benefits experienced, all above and beyond that offered to the patient. The work lasts between two to four hours at each center, which also accounts for the time spent to teach the skills possible to leave behind to the staff and volunteer therapists. In addition, this year’s journey was blessed with a $7000 donation of products from Young Living Essential Oil Company. Therapeutic grade essential oils were gifted to the villages/schools this year, many designed to cleanse and purify the body of the toxic effects of dioxin. The VVAF, Friendship Village (also sponsored by a Vietnam veteran effort) and now Soldier’s Heart are offering significant contributions to exposed communities. Participating on this year’s spring trip were two Vietnam veterans, one veteran wife, three veteran children and one veteran nephew. There were several ceremonial services for all of those involved with the after effects of war. One in particular was especially moving at LZ (Landing Zone) Bayonet, just north of Chu Lai. It was dedicated to the veteran daughter whose father had served there, but it soon became apparent that all veterans and their children were being honored. Even the news media that had been accompanying the group’s travel became involved as they turned off their cameras and joined the sacred circle. These journeys often have synchronistic events, as the reporter and cameraman were also veteran children of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). All were anointed with sage and incense and as never before, true reconciliation for veterans, their children and their foe took place on an abandoned firebase where the breezes now whisper peace across the land. That feeling continued with a visit to My Lai later that day, site of the March 16, 1968 massacre. One of the survivors, Ha Thi Quy, now 85, agreed to meet with the group. There is love and forgiveness throughout this Southeast Asian land, but this unlikely woman exemplifies the culture as none other.
Humanitarian projects are a large part of Soldier’s Heart ventures in Viet Nam. Over the years, schools, infirmaries, street children shelters and compassion houses have been built where most needed. The spring trips are mostly focused on healthcare clinics and all participants are asked to bring donation items such as clothing, toys and other non-perishable items for those in need. This year, Tony Luick, Psychologist, Vietnam veteran and director of American Veterans Quest for Peace (AVQP) was along for the spring journey and brought a generous donation of $2500, courtesy of the AVQP. The funds were utilized to subsidize a leprosy colony near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), needed medical supplies at the elderly home clinic, food and necessities at a Buddhist orphanage and high school scholarships for 19 students in Hue. Soldier’s Heart is greatly privileged to team with AVQP in this generous offering. Both Dr. Fisher and Dr. Luick were special guests on the National talk shows previously mentioned. Viet Nam is very happy to have American veterans returning after the war and most honored when they also contribute to their third-world nation. Christal Presley, Ph.D. in education, veteran daughter and author was also featured on one of the shows.
Why Go Back A Pilgrimage To Vietnam
The year 2010 is the year of celebrations for Vietnam. January began the festivities with the observance of 15 years of normalized relations with the United States. On April 30th it will be 35 years since the end of the war. The city of Hanoi will commemorate 1000 years on October 10th (10/10/1010 – 10/10/2010) and Soldier’s Heart will be in attendance for the festivities, also celebrating 10 years leading reconciliation journeys to Vietnam. This year also represents the first year Soldier’s Heart has expanded its work in Vietnam by adding a second pilgrimage from March 28th to April 12th. And unbeknownst to the travelers who signed up this year, Vietnam was ready to take notice with amazing receptions and media coverage. Over the course of 16 days, Soldier’s Heart was televised on six nightly newscasts throughout the Central and Northern regions, two National talk shows on the VOICE OF VIETNAM (VOV) and TALK VIETNAM, as well as the making of two documentaries, one on Vietnamese Television (VTV) and the other with the Vietnam News Agency, which reaches more than 100 million readers/viewers in Southeast Asia.
Soldier’s Heart is a foundation based on the writings of Dr. Ed Tick, Ph.D., psychotherapist and author. With the Vietnam War in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s and now the wars in the Middle East, psychological casualties have occurred at alarming rates. Many returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the stopgap measures with traditional treatments have not been enough. Veterans from all wars, past and present, have not been allowed to complete their process, which must involve the entire society. The ancient traditions allowed for a different experience after war and Dr. Tick has taken great measures to study the customs of Native American, Greek Mythologies and even Vietnamese to discover the concepts to healing PTSD that is unprecedented in our Western culture. His best selling book, “War and the Soul,” describes his findings and as director of Soldier’s Heart (term used during the Civil War to describe PTSD), he is able to implement these methodologies long lost to the modern world. And he has been taking veterans back to Vietnam too, since the year 2000, to help them recover from their experience and reclaim their identity lost in the war, an important process discovered from the earlier traditions.
Receptions for the group were held throughout the country from Ho Chi Minh City, through the central areas of Quang Nam and Da Nang provinces and into Hanoi. In the latter city a grand social event was held in honor of the Americans and attended by many dignitaries including the Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament Assembly Ngo Quang Xuan, Psychiatric Director of the Association for Handicapped Children Do Thuy Lan, M.D., head of the Orthopedic Department of Viet Duc University Hospital Ngo Van Toan, M.D., Deputy Secretary General Bui Van Nghi and the American Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Mitchell. Before the group’s departure from Vietnam on Monday, April 12, the Secretary General of the Central Government Tran Dac Loi gave a farewell reception for the group. In his speech he pointed out that the Vietnamese people have come to terms with the psychological aspects from the war, however many physical aspects remain (Agent Orange contamination and undetonated land mines and bombs), He thanked the group for helping them to overcome these challenges.
or email: john@soldiersheart.net or the info email on the website above.
If you wish to apply for the 2011 spring trip leaving March 18th. and returning April 4th., please fill out the application below.
from Natural Awakenings of Myrtle Beach and GrandStrandHealthyLiving.com
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Back Behind The Bamboo Curtain
Talk Vietnam VTV4 coverage of the recent trip to Viet Nam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9J-vsnFVVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMs20pRSfQA&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g340nObbcwQ&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=227OpIRJw7o&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKnQvR6VELU&feature=channel
