Flying Focus Video Bus - 12-03-19 (11-14-20)

Peace and Justice Works board member Desiree Hellegers joined a delegation led by Veterans for Peace Chapter 160 in April, 2015. Her report back on that trip, enhanced with commentary by Portland activist Becky Luening and Viet Nam veteran Don Blackburn, both of the Vietnam Friendship Village Project USA, is featured on this two-part show. ---------------------- Hellegers, a founding member of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice at WSU Vancouver, witnessed the effects of Agent Orange, the continuing threat of Unexploded Ordinance (which have killed over 60,000 people since the withdrawal of American Troops), and the return of Monsanto, which manufactured Agent Orange. Her talk is supplemented by photos she took on the journey. Luening, who's a member of Veterans for Peace, describes the process of founding the Friendship Village and how it helps war survivors and their children. Blackburn, with the VFP 160 chapter in Viet Nam, reads from his writings and explains how the Vietnamese people unexpectedly were grateful and welcoming to US veterans who returned to the country. Blackburn's books are "Into the Heart" and "All You Have Given: Meditations on War, Peace and Reconciliation." -------------------------------- This program was video captured by Joe Anybody and co-produced by Barb Greene and Dan Handelman.