It is equally clear that there has been no war fought in which children were not those who suffered the most. Unable to flee, unable to defend themselves, unable to even understand, they have been the ones who have felt the effects of war the most. I know this because I was one of those children. I grew up in Vietnam at a time when the country had been at war much longer than I had even been alive. The violence and conflict were always a part of our lives, even in the times of complete calm and quiet. You tried to live a normal life—going to school, working the fields, playing with your friends, eating with your family—but knew that life could instantly be altered or ended. You could only hope and pray that you and your family would be spared. For me that veneer of normalcy was shattered forever when I was nine years old. Our village was at the centre of a pitched battle. As we were seeking shelter from the fighting, we were accidentally hit with a type of bomb that contained napalm— chemicals that cause things to break into flames.
What do You think about When Elephants Fight (2008)?
