The Center Point Historical Society’s annual community harvest potluck was Oct. 29 at the Center Point dentistry office basement.

Members and neighbors enjoyed a travel slide show by Jon Sholes on his recent trip to Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Jon had been in the Fourth Infantry Division in the Central Highlands in 1970 and ’71 during the Vietnam War. Jon’s wife Donna and Chuck and Mary McGill of Urbana were also on the trip and attended the potluck.

Guests could see that the people and the country were beautiful but not rich.

“There’s quite a difference between Hanoi (the North Vietnam capitol during the war) and Saigon (the South Vietnam capitol,”) Jon said. The country is united under a Communist government since the United States left in April 1975. “It’s like Saigon got a headstart,” he said.

Jon got to talk to a North Vietnamese Army veteran drafted late in the war who said he trained for 3 months and then walked for 3 months to get to the war.

“Vietnamese young people are probably more aware of the war and its effects than ours are, especially those in the south,“ Jon said. “But there’s no animosity toward America, although there’s more in the south for the way we left, especially among the older people.”

“I think I would have resentment,” Jon said.

A lot of transport in the country is still done by bicycle and motorbike. Instead of having Western style supermarkets, Vietnamese food comes from what is comparable to our farmers markets, with fresh produce and live chickens.