| Veterans are most likely
to build a bridge between Vietnam and the United States,
thanks to their experiences and their desire to learn
about the real Vietnam, says Ton Nu Thi Ninh, the
vice chairwoman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the
National Assembly.
Most veterans “came to Vietnam not knowing what
they were doing. They left with pain, but also with
very blurred impressions of what the Vietnamese nation
really is. … But these impressions were very
deep. Now [many of them] want to know the real Vietnam
that they could never know when they were there,”
Ninh says.
Ninh and her delegation met with various veterans
groups, who had been intimately involved in the earliest
stage of normalization, the search for missing servicemen
from the war.
When these veterans come back to Vietnam, Ninh says,
they involve themselves in programs in the country,
including the identification of Vietnamese MIAs. The
remains of approximately 300,000 Vietnamese have yet
to be found and identified.
Cooperation in the search for MIA’s represented
the first step of the renewal of U.S-Vietnamese relations
after the evacuation of American personnel from Saigon
at the end of the war that led to unification of the
country in 1975. It remains one of the top priorities
in cooperating with Vietnam. Ninh points out that
the Vietnamese feel especially strongly about ancestor
worship and are very keen on identifying the remains
of their missing soldiers. Literally every household
contains an altar dedicated to the dead of the family.
Many of the veterans who return to Vietnam after years
of painful soul-searching end up becoming strong advocates
of improving relations and even assistance to Vietnam.
The top congressional supporters of Vietnam are veterans,
including Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., John Kerry,
D-Mass., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Most recently, veteran
Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., returned to Vietnam on
a mission to find the remains of a constituent. The
experience made him rethink his stand on Vietnam-related
issues.
And, of course, America’s first ambassador to
Vietnam, Pete Peterson, knew Vietnam in less peaceful
times. |
