*               *               *               *               *

I live in Paris.

For many Americans  “the trip to France” involves enjoying food, drink, scenery and perhaps a bit of history.

As of last Wednesday, coming to France means heavily armed police, guards in front of many schools and  places of worship, suspicion of hidden Kalashnikovs. Racism, backlash.

People gathered:  yes, they gathered in historical numbers, after a slaughter the likes of which the country had not known since 1961. They needed to be together, to talk, to try and understand. To say “no”

The press has its say as well. Not always productive.

But let me give you some numbers, just for fun: in France, of a population of 66 million people, 7,5% are Muslims. One of the largest populations in Europe.

10, 5% of the active population is unemployed. Among the Muslim population, the rate is 17, 5%.

22, 7 %  young French under 25 are jobless. In the Muslim population, the percentage is double…..

So what happens to these “immigrés”? They live in drab suburbs, piled in thirty story subsidized housing, with little parental care. They roam the streets and leave school before any sort of diploma is obtained. No past, no  present, no future.

The French educational system turns out an extremely well prepared …. elite.

Gradually, they start dealing drugs, stealing, doing time in prison, coming out and starting over again.

They are pushed into a ghetto where the rest of the population looks upon them with suspicion and hostility. The extreme right is flourishing here right now. To make things even better, a book by Michel Houllebecq appeared last Wednesday ,  setting the scenario of the arrival of an integrist president in France. This has not improved the general  atmosphere. Promotion of his book has come to a halt.

One day, someone  -  in prison, on the internet or via their country of origin  ( although most are born in France and are French citizens )– describes in glowing terms  the djihad. Aside from the 72 virgins awaiting them as martyrs, they are told a better life awaits them, they will mean something, and they are warriors. They will become heroes. People will admire them . They are taken in hand, although they have no idea what the Koran is about, and often can barely read.And, little by little, we arrive at the Kouachi brothers, and Koulibali. Aimless drifters that someone, somewhere has managed to push into the current of the Shariah.

We were graduated from one of the finest high schools in the country. We received a solid education. If there is one lesson to be learned from this abject massacre, perhaps it is that learning is the basis for tolerant cohabitation in a civilized society. A proverb says that if you want to help for  a day, plant rice, for a year plant a tree and for life teach reading.

Mount Lebanon High School gave us a great gift for life.

It is something for which to be grateful.

 

Our classmate, Stu Herrington, a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer and author of several successful non-fiction books, has been cooperating with Emmy award-winning film director Rory Kennedy and the PBS documentary series, "The American Experience" in the production and marketing of the documentary film, "Last Days in Vietnam."   Stu appears often in the film as he provides eyewitness testimony of the fall of Saigon in April 1975.

 

Stu in Saigon, 1974, six months before evacuation.

 

The documentary focuses on the efforts of some American officers and civilians in Vietnam, who, as South Vietnam disintegrated in the face of a North Vietnamese onslaught, defied the U.S. Ambassador's orders not to evacuate South Vietnamese.  The Ambassador, Graham Martin, underestimated the North Vietnamese Army's power, and forbid evacuation of Vietnamese, fearing that any evacuations might trigger a panic.  Since it was clear, to all except the Ambassador, that the North Vietnamese Army was staging to assault Saigon and had the capability and intention to end the war, Stu and his comrades labored secretly in evacuating thousands of threatened Vietnamese.  "Last Days in Vietnam" opened at the Sundance Film Festival last January with Stu and Director Kennedy (daughter of deceased Senator Robert F. Kennedy), present to interact with the audience.  In August, a few weeks ago, Stu and Director Kennedy were hosted by actor Alec Baldwin at the Long Island "Hamptons International Film Festival," which featured the film in a sold-out showing.  Pictures of that event are attached.   For pictures of the Hamptons Film Festival event, including a video of the panel discussion and audience Q & A featuring Stu and Director Kennedy, you can go to www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.    The film also has Facebook visibility, and a website,www.lastdaysinvietnam.com, which shows a trailer of the documentary and a schedule of showings around the country.  The national television premier of "Last Days in Vietnam" will take place in April 2015, the fortieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon, at which time it will be featured on all PBS television stations, nationwide.

 

 

In recognition of his career successes, publications, and role as a soldier-scholar, in September 2007, Stu, who retired from the Army as a colonel, became the first member of the Class of 1960 to be awarded Mt. Lebanon High School's Great Alumni Award and inducted into the Great Alumni Hall of Fame.  He is currently working with the Ken Burns documentary team on a comprehensive mini-series that will document the entire Vietnam War, "sans myths," he assures.

....................................................................................................................................................

I am happy to share what I have been doing all these years, and I believe the best way is to have classmates  look at our website:  
www.legacyintl.org 
Thank you,