Berks Barrister Summer 2019 - 10

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SOUTHEAST ASIA JOURNEY REVEALS
RESILIENCE, RAW CAPITALISM AND
LETHAL REMINDERS OF A "SECRET WAR"
Continued from page 9

Sampling fried tarantula -- just one of the many exotic snacks
during the trip.

We left the capital and headed to Angkor, the main tourist
destination in Cambodia, where the ancient temples of Angkor
Wat and Ta Prohm are located. On the way, we stopped to visit
an area where entire villages are floating on Tonle Sap Lake. It
is hard to imagine hundreds of homes and businesses existing
in small boat houses. We visited the home of the local midwife,
who was the only real medical care provider for expectant
mothers who didn't have the time to make it on shore and drive
to a local hospital. She shared with us her medical supplies.
Basic or primitive really doesn't capture the essence of what she
showed us.

Throughout our trip, we were impressed by the fact that
people in Southeast Asia don't waste food. When we had a meal
of an entire fish, our guide ate the entire fish, head, eyes, mouth,
you name it. The only thing she left was the bones. We ate
Tarantulas, duck embryos (which were sort of like hard boiled
eggs but it looked like a baby duck), duck tongues, chicken feet
and an assortment of other local snacks.
We ended our trip in Vietnam staying in Saigon, also known
as Ho Chi Minh City. As energetic and bustling as the other
cities were, Saigon was all that and much more. We actually
were instructed on how to cross the streets because the cycle
traffic is so crazy.

We toured the former Presidential Palace, saw a hidden
bunker where the Viet Cong stashed weapons, went to the
Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong lived underground in a
network of tunnels over a hundred miles total. We met a former
Viet Cong soldier who spent eight years living in the tunnels.
He met his wife during that time, but also lost an arm fighting
our army.
Pat and I met a former Viet Cong soldier who spent eight years living
underground in a network of tunnels during the Vietnam War.

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10 | Berks Barrister

I left Vietnam and Southeast Asia with sadness for all the
wasted life in all of these countries through our attempt to stop
the spread of communism. Looking at these countries today,
one realizes we lost the war, but our economic system was the
ultimate winner. If you want to see capitalism in its most raw
form, go there. Everywhere you visit, you see it and feel it. Not
once did I hear a harsh word toward Americans or see a hostile
glance. You come away in awe of the resilience of these people
and what they have done to restore countries torn apart by war.

Mr. Speicher practices personal injury and commercial
litigation at Leisawitz Heller in Spring Township and is a
Past President of the Berks County Bar Association.
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Berks Barrister Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks Barrister Summer 2019
