Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made a historic visit to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam yesterday.
The visit marks the first time a U.S. defense secretary has visited the country since the end of the Vietnam War. The bay was the main point of entry for U.S. troops and ships who docked there. Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that Panetta’s visit is significant because it came a day after he addressed other defense ministers to outline new strategies for the region in order to put two-thirds of the U.S. Navy’s vessels in Asia.
The Vietnamese did not send a senior representative to meet Panetta at Cam Ranh Bay, which Griffin said shows that they are wary of welcoming the U.S. openly in order to avoid upsetting China. Panetta said, “The more I am out here, the more critical I view this region in terms of our national defense and the defense of the world.”
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Vietnam Opens 3 Sites for MIA Search
FOX News
The Vietnamese government says it will open three new sites for excavation by the US to search for troop remains from the war, as Panetta and Vietnamese counterpart exchange war artifacts.
The announcement from Vietnam Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh comes as U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his Vietnamese counterpart participated in a first-of-its-kind joint exchange of artifacts from the war in Hanoi.
A Department of Defense spokesman said in a statement the department believes Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC) research teams will greatly benefit from access to the new sites in their search for the approximately 1,200 U.S. service members still missing in Vietnam.
“The Department of Defense believes these sites are critical to locating missing-in-action troops from the Vietnam War,” spokesman George Little said.
In the artifact exchange, Panetta gave his Vietnamese counterpart the Vũ Ðình Ðoàn diary, which was taken by Robert Frazure, United States Marine Corps following Operation Indiana in 1966.
In turn, Quang Thanh presented personal letters of U.S. Army Sergeant Steve Flaherty, who was killed in action in 1969.
Both leaders agreed to return the artifacts to the relatives of the soldiers.
The bilateral meeting in Hanoi came a day after Panetta visited the deepwater port and former American military base at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam as part of an effort to promote a closer military partnership with the Vietnamese and reassert the U.S. presence in Asia.
The trip was an important sign of American aspirations in the region. Panetta indicated that the U.S. Navy would like to once more have regular access to the bay, which commands a strategic location on the South China Sea, The Wall Street Journal reported.
On Saturday, before arriving in Vietnam, Panetta announced that by the next decade, 60 percent of U.S. Navy warships would be stationed in the Pacific.
Panetta is in Asia as part of an effort to explain the new American strategy in the Pacific region and begin to put it into effect by trying to make progress in developing deeper partnerships with Vietnam, Singapore and India.
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Wild Thing’s comment……………
I don’t trust them, nor China….all I can think of is God protect our troops.
China is a potential military threat to America. Vietnam and China are traditional enemies. It would be good for America to play off that threat by establishing good relations with Vietnam. Times change.
Three navies covet Cam Ranh Bay. The US Navy and the Chinese and Russian navies. From all I have read and heard the Vietnamese like Americans regardless of what their communist govt. thinks. At the same time the Vietnamese dislike the Chinese and Russians. The use of Cam Rahn Bay would be a strategic coup for America. Vietnam would also be a stabilizing influence for the other SE Asia countries in the event of a war with China. China would have to devote a lot of resources to protect her southern border with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand whether they were neutral or beligerant. I would vote on them being adversaries to China.
Vietnamese showed signs of being capitalists at heart. Improved relations with America might loosen the reins of a communist govt. and naturally erode communism and allow Vietnam to join the other Asian economic tigers like Thailand, Taiwan and S. Korea. The Vietnamese are very energenic people. My neighborhood has a lot of Vietnamese. They run a plethora of small businesses and their kids are usually the most scholarly in school. Those kids go on to become doctors, researchers and business executives.
There is also the fact that regional strife is brewing over potential oil reserves in the South China Sea. China, Vietnam and the Philippines all claim title to these oil fields. China is the 900 pound gorilla in this situation. Vietnam would most likely love US backing and it would be beneficial to us if China did not have access to those oil fields.
Finally, I believe that allying with Vietnam would open the final door to account for our MIAs. Hopefully this would also get us access to MIA searches in Laos.
I hope all this is more than wishfull thinking on my part. I am proud of our effort in the Vietnam War. Maybe it was not a wasted effort. Perhaps the seeds of freedom were planted before we ingloriously left. Maybe the dislike of the Vietnamese for Russia and China will push Vietnam closer to the West. A Vietnam as an ally would be a tremendous strategic asset to America in the Pacific Rim.
China is a potential military threat to America. Vietnam and China are traditional enemies. It would be good for America to play off that threat by establishing good relations with Vietnam. Times change.
Three navies covet Cam Ranh Bay. The US Navy and the Chinese and Russian navies. From all I have read and heard the Vietnamese like Americans regardless of what their communist govt. thinks. At the same time the Vietnamese dislike the Chinese and Russians. The use of Cam Rahn Bay would be a strategic coup for America. Vietnam would also be a stabilizing influence for the other SE Asia countries in the event of a war with China. China would have to devote a lot of resources to protect her southern border with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand whether they were neutral or beligerant. I would vote on them being adversaries to China.
Vietnamese showed signs of being capitalists at heart. Improved relations with America might loosen the reins of a communist govt. and naturally erode communism and allow Vietnam to join the other Asian economic tigers like Thailand, Taiwan and S. Korea. The Vietnamese are very energenic people. My neighborhood has a lot of Vietnamese. They run a plethora of small businesses and their kids are usually the most scholarly in school. Those kids go on to become doctors, researchers and business executives.
There is also the fact that regional strife is brewing over potential oil reserves in the South China Sea. China, Vietnam and the Philippines all claim title to these oil fields. China is the 900 pound gorilla in this situation. Vietnam would most likely love US backing and it would be beneficial to us if China did not have access to those oil fields.
Finally, I believe that allying with Vietnam would open the final door to account for our MIAs. Hopefully this would also get us access to MIA searches in Laos.
I hope all this is more than wishfull thinking on my part. I am proud of our effort in the Vietnam War. Maybe it was not a wasted effort. Perhaps the seeds of freedom were planted before we ingloriously left. Maybe the dislike of the Vietnamese for Russia and China will push Vietnam closer to the West. A Vietnam as an ally would be a tremendous strategic asset to America in the Pacific Rim.
Tom, thank you soooo much for the added information. I pray too it helps with getting more information and access about our MIA’s. It has been beyond way too long.
Very good points Tom. Vietnam might become a good alley. Look at Japan and Germany as they’re now some of our closest allies.