Most recent public comments by Sareana Kimia https://nowcomment.com/users/16331 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36344?scroll_to=388178 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36344?scroll_to=388178 It’s interesting that it says that the Hmong veterans received their awards with pride and that they are happy represent both the Hmong people and the US military. Particularly because it was a bittersweet war for so many of them –they gave up their way of life in order to fight for the United States, and then left their homelands afterwards to escape persecution. It’s also bittersweet because many of them were child soldiers or forced into the war, and, so many years later, many of them had begun to die of old age and illness. The war lacked in glory or a sense of patriotism because there was no Hmong nation to begin with, and they’re still kind of placeless. So there was less attachment to the idea of the glory of war or nationalism. - Sareana Kimia & Nisha Desai Mon, 19 Oct 2015 18:53:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=387235 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=387235 As a society, we mask our individual feelings. Sometimes it is hard for us to see what we are doing in the media. We do not always realize that not only are we not acknowledging what we have done to others, but we create fictional stories in order to make ourself feel just a little better. We try to believe we are acknowledging the problem by substituting the story with zombies and serial killers. As Nguyen said, it is much easier for us to accept fictional horrors instead of accepting that we've actually committed similar horrors. This is where the inconsistency of our history comes-in. We sometimes believe we have the truth; but rather, we have already pre-determined that some parts of this historical event are not needed. Sun, 18 Oct 2015 10:44:22 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385001 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385001 This story is yet another example of American exceptionalism, where the stories of others don't matter. We try to hide the horrors we have contributed to others. We try to tell people all around the world that we are their savors. But, when do we ever talk about the history of other people? We want to see a good movie in the cinema based on the facts we believe & know to be true. The facts that are not as well-known, we don't want to know because it will tarnish our perception and how we see our own country. Our media helps us hide reality well and continues to further develop this idea of American exceptionalism. We have hidden the stories of rape during war; and we have hidden the stories of Vietnamese refugees. This idealist view that we have of America during the Vietnam War is hidden under the crimes we have committed; and to this day, our distorted truths continue to let us believe lies. Mon, 12 Oct 2015 16:45:58 -0400