When the universe guru became one of us
Michio Kaku on Vietnam, belief, and choosing sides
What you probably do not know yet
- Michio Kaku, in a Diary of a CEO interview, retells his sergeant’s Vietnam story: a boy offered candy, then threw a hand grenade; half the sergeant’s body was hit by shrapnel.
- Kaku asks why a boy would do that and answers: because he believed the story he was given, enough to turn candy into a trap. His lesson: believe in the goodness of men and that men can do evil; fight for what you think is right.
- He recalls singing “I want to kill a Charlie Kong” at 4 a.m. every morning, then asking himself whether he was on the right side or the wrong side of the war.
What you will know after
In a long interview about physics and the universe, Kaku pauses on his army service during the Vietnam War and names the moment he started to question what is right and what is wrong.TL;DW
When religion felt like glue
Kaku says he served two years in the United States Army when it was the height of the Vietnam War. He had already begun to question religion:
Is it just a glue that holds people together? Is there a deeper meaning to the whole thing?
Candy was not candy
During grenade training, the recruits saw deep scars on one side of the sergeant’s face and on his neck. They asked why. He told them:
The boy says, “Candy, candy. You want candy?” The GI says, “No, no, no. Get away from me. I don’t want candy.”
The little boy showed what was in his hand. It was a hand grenade. It was not candy at all. The little boy threw the hand grenade at the sergeant. The sergeant hit the ground as fast as he could, flat on the ground. The grenade exploded. One half of his body got saturated with shrapnel.
Why would a boy do that?
Kaku then asks why a young boy would do something like this. His answer:
It’s because he believed in something.
He calls that a real lesson for him:
You have to believe in something. You have to believe in the goodness of men and also the fact that men can do evil. You have to fight for what you think is right.
The song at 4 a.m.
Kaku says it is not just a question of winning the war:
We’re number one. We’re going to win this war.
Every morning at 4:00, he used to sing:
I want to go to Vietnam. I want to kill a Charlie Kong.
Then he asked himself whether he was on the right side or the wrong side.
Maybe I’m on the wrong side.
Chapter Guide
| Time | Chapter |
|---|---|
| 56:15 | Grenade Sergeant, candy, and shrapnel |
| 57:44 | Doubt Morning song and the wrong side |