Post Reports Decades of trust-building in Vietnam, coming undone by Trump
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Apr 30, 2025 Rebecca Tan, Southeast Asia Bureau Chief for The Washington Post, dives deep into the fraught legacies of the Vietnam War and the unraveling of U.S.-Vietnam relations. She recounts the critical ongoing efforts to locate missing soldiers, revealing the emotional toll on families. Tan highlights the rollback of trust-building initiatives under the Trump administration, which cut vital funding for demining and public health. The discussion reflects on both historical scars and the challenges of moving forward in a changing geopolitical landscape.
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Vietnamese Veterans' Ongoing Struggle
- Rebecca Tan met Vietnamese war veterans and a retired general deeply affected by the war's legacy.
- The ongoing search for missing soldiers helps families heal and keeps memories of the war alive.
American Family's Search for Closure
- Steve Morrissey searched Vietnam for his father's crash site with the support of the U.S. Institute of Peace.
- He held a ceremony there to reunite his father's memory with his late mother's ashes, a bittersweet closure.
Post-War Cooperation Foundations
- U.S.-Vietnam cooperation began soon after normalization in 1995, focusing initially on war legacies.
- Cooperation addressed unexploded bombs, missing soldiers, and established a foundation for broader relations.