Baseball in Vietnam
As my plane touched down in central Vietnam, near the old battlefields of what is known here as the American war, I was having second thoughts.
What kind of a story was this? Baseball in Vietnam.
This is a country that fought for decades to rid itself of America and its soldiers.
One of those soldiers, and the man I was about to meet, was Jan Scruggs.
Jan fought in Vietnam and went home to an America that was deeply divided over the war and what it stood for.
So he decided to build a monument. It was a way to heal some of the scars.
The result was the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC - a reflective black wall of granite inscribed with the names of all those who died in the war.
Now Jan had hit on another idea - bringing baseball to Vietnam.
He wanted Vietnam to see that America was a friend, and what better way than to learn about its favourite sport - baseball.
Jan knows central Vietnam well. Not as a soldier but as a sponsor of aid projects for this, one of the poorest parts of the country.
Jan's veterans group had raised millions of dollars for mine clearance and educating local people about the dangers of old bombs.
But it also wanted to do something fun, something different. To create Vietnam's first-ever baseball field.
Which is how I found myself on a bus heading north on Highway 1 with a group of American war vets and baseball players.
They were all in high spirits.
First stop was a village surrounded by fields of emerald rice, swaying in the breeze, a postcard view of Vietnam.
There we'd been invited to meet 75-year-old Yung Ding Tan.
A week before, Mr. Tan and his wife had been sleeping when an explosion ripped apart their concrete house. Some of the roof had caved in, and the rooms were reduced to rubble.
"I thought it was an earthquake," he told me. "We've lost everything."
It's a common problem. An old bomb buried in the soil.
Mr. Tan and his wife were lucky to survive. But now they were homeless.
"Hang on", said one of the veterans. "How much would it cost to build him a new house?"
About 2,000 dollars, we were told.
"Well, let's pay for it, then," he said.
Watching all this was Danny Graves, one of the baseball players in our group, a handsome, baby-faced athlete with thick tattooed arms and diamond studs in his ears.
Danny was the star attraction on our bus, a major league pitcher who used to play for the New York Mets.
He's also half-Vietnamese, born in Saigon and raised in America.
This was his first time back in 31 years.
Standing next to Danny was his mother Thao. She had met Danny's father at the American embassy in Saigon, married him in secret and moved to America, leaving behind her Vietnamese family.
This was also her first time back. Her husband was dead now, and she had come to see her family again.
Back on the bus, and it was time for the main event - baseball!
The venue was a high school in Dong Ha, a three-story yellow building in a dusty yard. Rows of bicycles leaned up against the wall.
And everyone was out to greet us.
At the entrance, two rows of women wearing traditional white trouser suits lined the path, each clutching a red rose wrapped in plastic which they waved slowly back and forth.
And there at the back of the school was the baseball field, a bit sandy and uneven in places, but a recognizable slice of America.
Several hundred students dressed in brand new baseball shirts began to cheer.
And 30 years after the fall of Saigon, America's favourite pastime had finally arrived in Vietnam.
On the field, Danny was in his element, showing the students how to pitch the ball.
Some were naturals at the game, judging by the fastballs that whizzed past my microphone as I followed the action.
"I like this game," one 17-year-old student told me. "It's fast and I can use my strength and my speed."
He said he normally played football. Where we stood used to be the school football pitch. Now it was a baseball field.
Danny seemed impressed by what he'd seen, the excitement and willingness to learn a new sport.
He was also falling in love with the country and its people, his people.
"I want to come back," he said as we left the field. "I feel like I belong here."
注释：
Vietnam [7viEt5nAm] n. 越南
battlefield [5bAt(E)lfi:ld] n. 战场
rid [rid] vt. 使摆脱
monument [5mCnjumEnt] n. 纪念碑
heal [hi:l] v. 治愈
scar [skB:] n. 伤痕，疤痕
granite [5^rAnit] n. 花岗岩
inscribe [in5skraib] v. 记下
sponsor [5spCnsE] n. 发起人，主办者
clearance [5kliErEns] n. 清除
emerald [5emErEld] adj. 翠绿色的
sway [swei] v. 摇摆，摇动
breeze [bri:z] n. 微风
rubble [5rQbl] n. 碎石
tattoo [tE5tu:] v. 刺花纹，纹身
stud [stQd] n. 饰钉
pitcher [5pitFE] n.（棒球）投手
Saigon [sai5^Cn] n. 西贡，前南越首都
venue [5venju:] n. 比赛地点
clutch [klQtF] v. 抓住，紧握
plastic [5plAstik] n. 塑胶，塑料制品
uneven [5Qni:vEn] adj. 不平坦的
pastime [5pB:staim] n. 消遣，娱乐
fastball [5fB:stbR:l] n. [棒]（投手投出的）快球
whiz [hwiz] v. 发出呼啸声
美国老兵在越南的“棒球”之行
飞机缓缓降落在越南中部的一个机场，这一带因为靠近越战战场而为人所知。此刻，我心里一直在重新思考一个问题。
这是一个什么样的故事？美国老兵到越南打棒球。
这个国家奋斗了几十年就是为了摆脱美国和美国大兵的统治。
而我要见的这个人詹·斯克拉格斯就是这些越战老兵之一。
詹曾在越南参战，然后回国继续做一个普通的美国人。对于这场战争以及它的意义，詹的内心一直在挣扎。
因此他决心建一座纪念碑。这或许是治愈伤疤的一种方式。
于是，华盛顿越战纪念碑建立起来了。那是一面熠熠生辉的黑色花岗岩墙，上面镌刻着战争中所有阵亡者的名字。
现在，詹又有了一个新的想法--把棒球带到越南。
他希望越南能把美国看作一个朋友，而了解这个朋友的最好的方式莫过于借助美国人最热衷的运动--棒球。
詹对越南中部地区很了解。并不是以一个士兵的身份，而是作为对这个地区的援助项目的发起人--这一带是越南最贫困的地区之一。
詹的老兵团已经筹集了数百万美元的基金来帮助清除越战遗留下来的地雷，并教当地人了解这些遗弹的危险。
不过，这个基金还想用来做一些有趣的不同寻常的事，那就是兴建越南有史以来的第一个棒球场。
这就是为什么我发现自己跟一群美国越战老兵和棒球手们一起，乘坐着大巴在越南一号高速路上向北行驶。
一路上，他们都兴致勃勃。
我们到的第一站是一个小村庄，周围是一片片绿色的稻田。微风吹过，成片的绿色随风起舞，宛然一张越南风景的明信片。
在那里我们应邀与75岁高龄的谭容廷会面。
一个星期前，当谭先生和他的妻子还在睡梦中，他们的混凝土房子被引爆摧毁。房顶有一部分坍塌，房间都炸成了碎片。
“我本来以为是地震呢，”他告诉我，“现在我们什么都没了。”
在越南，这样的事故时有发生，就是因为土里埋藏了遗留的炸弹。
谭先生和他妻子能活下来已经很幸运，但是他们现在无家可归了。
“等一下，”一个老兵开口了，“给他建一座新房子要花多少钱？”
大约2000美元，我们听说的。
“哦，那我们来出这个钱吧。”他说。
丹尼·格雷夫思一直目睹着这一切，丹尼是我们团的棒球手之一。挺帅的一个小伙子，长着个娃娃脸，戴着钻石耳丁，胳膊上还刻满了纹身。
丹尼是我们这个大巴上的明星人物。他是联盟棒球投手的主力队员，曾效力纽约大都会队。
另外，他有一半的越南血统，生在西贡，长在美国。
这是31年来他第一次回越南。
站在丹尼旁边的是他的母亲陶女士。她当年在西贡的美国大使馆邂逅丹尼的父亲，与他秘密结婚，移居美国，远离了她在越南的亲人。
这也是她那么多年来第一次回国。现在她的先生已经去世，她回来是要再见见她的亲人。
再回到大巴上，现在该讲讲此行的主要活动--棒球。
棒球赛的地点是在东河市的一个高中，一幢黄色的三层楼房，院子里满是灰尘。成排的自行车靠墙而立。
所有人都在外面迎接我们。
在大门口，两排身着传统白色裤装的妇女沿着小路排成一直线，每个人手里都拿着一支用塑料纸包着的玫瑰花来回摇动，向我们致意。
而学校的后面就是一个棒球场，地面上有些沙子，有的地方还不太平整，不过可以看得出这是一个美式的棒球场。
好几百个学生，都穿着崭新的棒球服，开始欢呼。
西贡沦陷30年之后，美国人最爱的休闲运动终于来到了越南。
在球场上，丹尼可是如鱼得水。他一直给学生们示范如何投球。
有些学生对棒球颇有天赋，从他们投出的快球可以看得出。我跟着他们跑动的时候，球飞旋着，飕飕地擦过我的麦克风。
“我喜欢这个运动，”一个17岁的学生告诉我，“运动节奏很快，既可以锻炼力量，还能训练速度。”
他说他经常踢足球。我们站的地方以前就是校足球场，而现在改成棒球场了。
丹尼对他看到的一切深有感动，看的出来大家都很有兴趣并且乐意学习一种新的运动。
他也爱上了这个国家和这里的人民--他的同胞。
“我想回来，”他离开球场的时候说，“我觉得我属于这儿。”