By 1966 "free fire zones" were enlarged to areas of several square miles within which saturation bombing by B-52s or shelling by massed artillery cleared the land and made it uninhabitable by either NLF troops or the local peasantry. It was this decimation of the land, more than anything else that filled the refugee camps in the safe areas near Saigon and other cities. I was three when my family secretly boarded a boat to escape Vietnam. I still haven't been back since and do not know much of the logistics of the war. All I know is that my grandparents are still back there, of whom I've never met and my aunts and uncles are in the US.

We were sent to Australia, where both my parents found work and walked one hour each way, every day, as we had no money for a luxury car. The real heroes are those parents who gave up their freedom, lifestyle and country to provide their children with a future. I find it ignorant that filmmakers glorify the war but forget about the other heroes ... the normal Vietnamese family who either stayed or left to a foreign land and have now made a life for their children at the sacrifice of their own. We should stop debating on whether the War was right or wrong but focus on the wonders of such strong human beings such as my mum and dad. Most American soldiers were able to go home ... we had to escape or remain in the war zone. Please do not forget.