WAR HERO

WAR HERO

In the village of Tal Lai (NEAR Cat Tien National Park, Central Highlands, Vietnam), I was taken by my guide to a small wooden house to visit an old man who fought against the French and then against the Americans.
He could speak French as he is of the generation of Vietnamese who were children during the French colonial times and who learned French at school. He told me he was 80 and had been wounded 7 times. He lost one eye, his leg has been badly injured and he has other sequels from other various injuries. He was very warm and proud to speak to me about his wars.

The house was very basic: two rooms (a front room and a bedroom). The floor was earth, the table and benches looked homemade. There was some sort of wooden dresser with photos and a calendar on it. On the wall there was a framed portrait of Ho Chi Minh. Chicken were coming and going in the room.

He offered me tea (a cold jasmine type of tea typical in Vietnam) in a plastic cup and let me take some photos after I told him he looked fantastic for his age.

The room was dark and there was not much light outside either as it was about to rain so the ISO have been pushed hence the grain. In a way it adds something to the photo (f5,6 1/40th sec zoom at 70mm available light).
The time spent that afternoon with this man is one of many very strong moments of my trip. I had dreamed of making such encounters but did not know I would achieve it.

Have a nice day,

Jean-Noël

WAR HERO, CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK, CHAU MA HILL TRIBE, TA LAI VILLAGE, LAM DONG, BINH PHUOC PROVINCES, CENTRAL HIGHLANDS, VIETNAM