Wartime tales of loss and discovery Fergus Houghton-Connell
YEAR 13
Niels Bohr
W
hen thinking about wars, it is common to t hi nk a b o u t l o s s - t ho s e who died, the treaties that were broken or the land that was taken. But to explore what was found following war is arguably a more challenging and laborious task. The newfound liberation of Europe in 1945? Or perhaps even the abolition of slavery after the American Civil War? Loss and discovery seem, then, to be key concepts of war. Here, I have collated three rather extraordinary stories of people "lost and
44
Max Von Laue
found": events that were side-lined by the great loss of life during their respective Wars. The first took place during and after the Vietnam War. Jerry Quinn was a US soldier posted in Ho Chi Minh City when, in 1973, his Vietnamese girlfriend, Brandy, became pregnant with his son. They were trying to get married at the time and get a US Visa for Brandy but, as you can imagine, it was difficult for an American soldier to marry a Vietnamese woman until in January 1973, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger agreed a ceasefire with North Vietnamese
p o r t s m o u t h p o i n t . b l o g s p o t . c o m
James Franck
leaders. Fortunately, the War was over for America. Unfortunately, all American troops had to leave Vietnam and Jerry was forced to leave Brandy in Vietnam. All he ever received from her again were a few pictures of her and their baby son. All seemed lost until this year, when Jerry went in search of his long lost son in Vietnam. After three days in Ho Chi Minh City, Jerry had found no sign of Brandy or his son until a rather unlikely meeting occured. With the help of the owner of a noodle bar near to where Jerry and Brandy used to live, he got in contact with the daughter of the midwife there at Jerry's son's birth. The lady