SUSIES

I love the Vietnamese. I seek them out. For a long time, my barber was the Kim girls. I moved. Recently, I've come to know Suzies. They are manicurists.

I've always felt, we f..ked up their country, we owe them. My mission is teaching them to say, America, the Southern way--the NASCAR way. Not America but "Merica." It is adorable. God bless "Merica. You should see them smile. 

Every immigrant has a story. We are all immigrants. Susie, for instance, escaped (her words) Vietnam when she was 10. She loves America, the freedom, "blessed," she says. I always walk out feeling humble. 

The Vietnamese are maybe the most successful emigrant group in American. This is not to acknowledge those f..k ups we did. I always asked the question: If the Americans hadn't come to Vietnam, would you be better off. From SUSIES, 

a resounding NO. 

This is not such an objective questioning for sure. We did go To Vietnam for eleven long years and for most of us Vietnam vets, Vietnam rewrote our life story. To me, part of the Vietnam legacy is how little our involvement there has impacted future American f..k ups. Iraq, Afghanistan, the MidEast in general. We never learn. Well, we still have Suzies.