» South China Sea Pishkun

In South China Sea Pishkun – Dinh Q. Le’s first ever animation – the artist turns his focus to the liberation of Saigon on April 30, 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, which precipitated the infamous and chaotic evacuation of the remaining US presence by helicopter. As part of this evacuation, hundreds of US-manned helicopters fled in panic out to the South China Sea in hopes of landing on US Navy aircraft carriers. An unknown number of them crashed, or were pushed off over-burdened carriers into the sea. The helicopter, that ubiquitous wartime machine with its ominous trademark sound became practically synonymous with Vietnam because of its wide use – and concomitant technological failure – during the conflict. Between 1962 and 1973 alone, almost five-thousand US helicopters fatally crashed, with fully half of these due to mechanical failures.  

In Dinh Q. Le’s meticulously clean, hyper-real animation, rough waters lie in wait to claim metal wreckage as helicopter after helicopter falls into the sea. The helicopters are without pilots; some hover, struggling desperately to maintain above the waters before finally giving in; some seem like lifeless masses thrown violently from a merciless sky, while still others dive into the waters with a suicidal mania. In a spectacular, never-ending display, the US war machine, once symbolizing American might and technical prowess, fails over and over and over again. 

In regards to the title of this animated film, “Pishkun” is a Blackfeet American Indian term referring to the site where they used to kill roaming bison by driving them to a panic, and then running them over a cliff. South China Sea Pishkunshows these powerful machines that reined terror over Vietnam for so long in their last moments, crashing, struggling, flailing, sinking, and dying in the sea. Ironically, helicopters were the technology that the US military was counting on to give them the advantage. In their last moments, their failure was tragic and spectacular.