My trip to Vietnam this last March was inspired by the late Patrick Lucero, a nineteen year old soldier who died in Viet Nam in 1967. Later this year the East Side library in Pueblo will be named after him. I will be the manager there. Shortly after Patrick’s name was being considered for the library I found out another library built in Ba Long Commune in Quang Tri province had been named for Patrick and opened on September 11, 2010. I found this out through a chance meeting and association with a Seattle based organization, PeaceTrees Vietnam, whose mission is of peace and compassion. Their idea is to clear the land of the scars and remnants of war; and plant trees and fresh hope in their place. PeaceTrees’ work begins with healing the land and making it safe for children to play, farmers to till the soil and families to build their homes. Beyond creating safe land, PeaceTrees Vietnam also believes in building community by constructing homes, libraries and kindergartens. My trip consisted of flying to Seattle Washington, followed by a ten hour flight to Seoul Korea and four hours into Hanoi. For the next eleven days, I traveled to numerous cities visiting various sites such as the Temple of Literature, Paradise Cave, Ben Hai River, Vinh Tunnel, Marble Mountain, Hue Citadel, and Hanoi Hilton. I observed the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team detonate unexploded ordnance found in local villages. While I learned a lot about the history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War the highlight of my trip was visiting the kindergartens and libraries built by PeaceTrees Vietnam. Of course, one of the libraries I visited was the Patrick Lucero Library. This small library provides the community, mostly children, with books and a safe play area as well as a domestic violence shelter for women. I was fortunate to meet the librarian Nguyen thi Thu and although she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Vietnamese, we allowed puppets to do the talking (see photo). With the East Side library also being named after Patrick Lucero, we now have a lifetime connection with this library and community. I plan to nourish and grow this connection in memory of Patrick Lucero who was a son, a brother, and a hero who represents all the young men and women who died too soon in the service of their country.
