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The United States and Vietnam are helping heal wounds left by the war that ended 30 years ago by working together to determine the fate of missing servicemembers in Vietnam, including 1,800 from the United States. "As we mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, we must not forget those on both sides who made the ultimate sacrifice during the terrible conflict," said U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine. "The best way to do this is to remain steadfast in our efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel from the Indochina conflict," Marine told participants at the March 17 Texas Tech 5th Triennial Vietnam Symposium in Lubbock, Texas. Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, called POW/MIA recovery operations "our most robust PACOM program in Vietnam," during March 8 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Marine said he regularly urges the Vietnamese government to maintain its cooperation and to take concrete steps to allow full access to all archival records, renewed joint activities in the Central Highlands, and a concerted effort to conduct underwater activities. "Right now, there are teams spread out across Vietnam conducting investigations and recovery activities," he said. He referred to five recovery teams, two research and investigative teams and an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command that deployed to Vietnam in early March. The Defense Department announced two recent successes in this effort earlier this month, resulting in the remains of six servicemembers being identified and returned to their families for burial. On April 25, Defense Department officials announced that the remains of Marine 2nd Lt. Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr., Marine Sgt. James N. Tycz, Marine Lance Cpl. Samuel A. Sharp Jr., and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Malcolm T. Miller were identified. The four men were part of a reconnaissance patrol operating in Quang Tri province, South Vietnam, when they came under attack and were killed May 10, 1967. Their surviving patrol members were rescued later that morning, but the four men’s bodies could not be recovered, officials said. In the fall of 1991, several Vietnamese citizens visited the U.S. POW/MIA Office in Hanoi, claiming to have access to the remains of U.S. servicemen. One of the Vietnamese men provided bone and teeth fragments. Between 1993 and 2004, eight joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command interviewed and surveyed the skirmish area and two other joint teams conducted excavations and recovered remains. After extensive analysis, scientists from JPAC positively identified the four missing men. Sharp was buried April 23 in San Jose, Calif. Ahlmeyer, Tycz and Miller will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery May 10, 38 years after they were killed. On April 12, the department announced that two Army officers missing from the Vietnam War since 1971, Col. Sheldon Burnett and Warrant Officer 3 Randolph Ard, were positively identified and their remains were returned to their families for burial. The two officers died when their OH-58A helicopter was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed in Savannakhet province, Laos. After 11 days of heavy resistance, South Vietnamese ground troops reached the crash site but found no trace of the missing men or any graves. Between 1989 and 1996, joint U.S.-Lao teams led by JPAC conducted five separate field investigations, without success. Then in 2002, U.S. specialists interviewed four former North Vietnamese soldiers, three who had seen the bodies of the unaccounted-for soldiers. The fourth Vietnamese soldier had drawn a sketch of the area shortly after the incident. In 2003, the four Vietnamese witnesses and local Lao villagers guided the team to the crash site, where they found aircraft wreckage but no human remains. In August and September 2004, JPAC and Lao specialists excavated the crash site and two nearby graves, where they found human remains, U.S. military clothing and Ard’s identification tag. After extensive analysis of the remains recovered at the site, JPAC scientists positively identified Ard and Burnett. JPAC officials acknowledge that achieving these successes can be "agonizingly slow" and is frequently difficult and downright dangerous. At an April 7 ceremony at the JPAC headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, Maj. Gen. W. Montague Winfield, commander, and his staff paid tribute to 16 men who died during a POW/MIA recovery mission in Vietnam four years earlier. Seven JPAC members and nine Vietnamese government counterparts were killed when their MI-17 helicopter crashed in the mountains of Vietnam on April 7, 2001. Marine expressed appreciation for support both countries are providing to bring closure to missing servicemembers’ families. "I want to thank the dedicated men and women – both American and Vietnamese – who work so hard to find answers for the loved ones of these soldiers," he said. 30
Years After War’s End, U.S., Vietnam
Thirty years ago, the last U.S. helicopter lifted off the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, marking the official end of the Vietnam War. The decade-long conflict left 58,000 Americans and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese dead, and for the next two decades, relations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam remained at an impasse. But 30 years after the war’s end, the two countries have reached an unprecedented level of cooperation, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine told participants at the March 17 Texas Tech 5th Triennial Vietnam Symposium in Lubbock, Texas. This cooperation extends to security, trade and investment, health, education and culture. Marine delivered his assessment two weeks before the frigate USS Gary arrived in Ho Chi Minh City for a five-day port call, the third Navy ship to visit Vietnam since the war’s end. The visit marked the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries and a warming of military relations between the former foes. "Now we must put aside the past, and I think we should look forward to the future," Vietnamese Col. Bui Van Nga told the Associated Press during the frigate’s visit. Marine said the United States and Vietnam are putting their differences aside to find common ground in a wide range of issues, including counterterrorism and regional stability. "Vietnam and the United States stand together in opposition to the global scourge of terrorism," Marine said, noting that Vietnam has become an active participant in regional counterterrorism efforts. Vietnam also shares U.S. opposition to the development and spread of weapons of mass destruction, he said. As a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, Vietnam has publicly called on North Korea to honor its commitment to give up its nuclear-weapons program. "This is of no small significance considering the traditionally close ties between Hanoi and Pyongyang," Marine said. "Both countries (the United States and Vietnam) desire peace in the Asia-Pacific region and believe that there can be no economic growth and prosperity without a stable security environment," he said. The two countries also share a mutual interest in seeing that strong regional institutions address security challenges, such as international crime, drugs and environmental threats, he said. A bilateral agreement signed by the two countries last year lends American expertise to Vietnamese law enforcement agents working to stem the flow of drugs into and through Vietnam, Marine said. "We are hopeful that by building bridges this way, we will be able in the future to expand our cooperation to include more direct cooperative efforts to shut down drug traffickers and other criminal organizations," he said. But as the two countries look toward a more cooperative future, Marine said, they’re helping heal old wounds by working together to find answers to the fate of missing servicemembers in Vietnam, including 1,800 from the United States. "As we mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, we must not forget those on both sides who made the ultimate sacrifice during the terrible conflict," he said. "The best way to do this is to remain steadfast in our efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel from the Indochina conflict." Cooperation in this endeavor enabled the United States and Vietnam to move relations forward on other fronts and remain a top priority, he said. Marine said he regularly urges the Vietnamese government to maintain its cooperation and to take concrete steps to allow full access to all archival records, renewed joint activities in the Central Highlands, and a concerted effort to conduct underwater activities. "Right now, there are teams spread out across Vietnam conducting investigations and recovery activities," he said. He referred to five recovery teams, two research and investigative teams, and an investigation team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command that deployed to Vietnam in early March. The Defense Department announced the most recent success in this effort April 12. Two Army officers missing from the Vietnam War since 1971, Col. Sheldon Burnett and Warrant Officer 3 Randolph Ard, were positively identified and their remains were returned to their families for burial. Four former North Vietnamese soldiers were instrumental in identifying the site where the two officers’ OH-58A Kiowa helicopter went down near the Laos border, defense officials said. "I want to thank the dedicated men and women — both American and Vietnamese — who work so hard to find answers for the loved ones of these soldiers," Marine said of the overall POW/MIA recovery initiative. As these efforts advance, Marine acknowledged, areas remain in which the United States and Vietnam still don’t see eye-to-eye, including Vietnam’s human rights record. He vowed that the United States would continue pushing Vietnam to improve on progress slowly being made. But these differences aside, Marine said, the two countries have come a long way since the fall of Saigon 30 years ago and the reestablishment of diplomatic relations just a decade ago. "When one considers how far apart the United States and Vietnam once were, how implacably against each other we were — and it wasn’t that long ago — I believe it’s a testament to the efforts in both countries to build bridges, foster communication, and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding," he said. "I can assure you that these efforts will continue." |
