Vietnam Welcomes U.S. Envoy
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HANOI — On a moonless evening in 1966, an antiaircraft missile shot down Capt. Douglas “Pete” Peterson’s Air Force bomber near Hanoi. That was the beginning of 6 1/2 years in prison, where he was tortured and kept in solitary confinement in a dank cell.
On Friday, Peterson made a euphoric return to Vietnam under very different circumstances. The former POW is now the first U.S. ambassador posted to Communist Vietnam, and he says he’ll make it a priority to account for the almost 1,600 American servicemen still listed as missing in action.
The arrival of Peterson, 62, established full diplomatic relations between the former enemies.
He was greeted at the airport with cheers and smiles--a euphoric welcome that was a generation away from the chaos and disgrace that marked the departure of the last U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. Twenty-two years ago, Graham Martin, the American ambassador to South Vietnam, tucked the U.S. flag under his arm, climbed atop the embassy in Saigon and fled the devastated city by helicopter.
About 100 well-wishers, including war veterans and business leaders, met Peterson at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport.
“The war belongs in the past,” said former North Vietnam militia member Mai Van On, who hugged Peterson. “The Vietnamese people value anything the United States can bring to develop our country.”
The 79-year-old On saved Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 1967 after McCain was shot down over Hanoi.
President Clinton in 1994 lifted a trade embargo on Hanoi and established diplomatic ties in 1995.
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