Nguyen Tam Chien, President of the Vietnam – U.S. Society (VUS) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) hosted a reception in Hanoi on March 18 for a VFW’s 3-member delegation, who are on a Vietnam visit from March 15-23.
VUS President Nguyen Tam Chien (right) receives the VFW delegation led by its Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Hal Roesch.
At the meeting, Chien lauded the VFW’s goodwill and efforts to heal the aftermath of the war, emphasing that searching activities have helped not only settle war consequences but also opened the door for relations between Vietnam and the US.
He also shared that much is left to be done to overcome the consequences of the war for the Vietnamese. He added that it is more important to head for the future, trying our best so that our next generations will never have to suffer any wars.
He voiced his hope that the VFW will encouraged US veterans and their relatives to provide information, belongings and artifacts related to remains of Vietnamese fallen and missing soldiersduring the war, noting that Vietnam will make all-out efforts to partner with the US to search for missing US soldiers in the country.
According to VFW Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Hal Roesch, the delegation’s visit aims at studying the two countries’ cooperation in the search for US servicemen who went missing in action (MIA) during the war in Vietnam.
Hal said he had a positive impression of the country, people and culture of Vietnam, as this is his first time visit the country.
He hoped to increase understanding between the two countries during this visit, and foster co-operation between the two governments in searching for US soldiers who went missing during the war.
Hal also stressed that the VFW will pledge more efforts in collecting information about Vietnamese soldiers who died during the war to help retrieve the martyrs’ remains so that they can rest in peace in their homeland.
VFW is a nonprofit veterans service organisation comprised of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, guard and reserve forces. Established in 1899, the organisation now has 1.7 million members with nearly 8,400 branches around the world.
In 1991, the VFW sent representatives to the delegations of the USCongressmen and ex-veterans to Vietnam to discuss the search for the US servicemen missing in action.
The VFW set up relations with the VUS in 1994, and sends a delegation to Vietnam almost every year to learn about the country’s situation and the bilateral relations, especially in the settlement of MIA-related issue./.
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