Can We Talk 2

Green Eyes

         I watched a 1977 film called Green Eyes. It was about American orphans left behind in Viet Nam. I remember hearing a lot about these children at one time, but had forgotten. The film reminded us at the end that the doors to Viet Nam closed in 1979, so vets couldn't go back to find their kids.

         The story follows one man's return from the war. Jobs were scarce. Attitudes towards GI's were not good. His longing for his child grew deeper. His family wanted him to go back to school and take care of himself, but he had to go look for his baby.

         What he found there was heart-breaking. Orphanages were worse than animal shelters here. At some point, I couldn't take it any more and burst out crying. I wanted him to find his baby. I wanted to pick up the children hungry for affection. He volunteered in the orphanage while he searched for his baby mama. There the GI found his purpose; he found that being needed was a good thing, a happy thing.

         Those children, if they survived, would be parents, even grandparents now. I couldn't stop crying even after it was over. It was a touching film. Humanity, tenderness, and caring can endure even the hell of war and its aftermath.