Vietnam, US mark 25th year of MIA search cooperation
Vietnam and the US on September 25 marked the 25th anniversary of bilateral cooperation in the search for remains of US servicemen who died during the war in Vietnam.
The celebration ceremony was jointly held in Hanoi by the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Personnel and the US Department of Defence’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.
Addressing the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc made it clear that the MIA search was the first field of cooperation between the two countries after the war ended, which laid the initial foundation for the normalisation of Vietnam-US relations in 1995. Cooperative activities in this field will continue to give a boost to the development of multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, he said.
He affirmed Vietnam’s policy to leave the past behind and look to the future for the benefit of long-term friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
The senior diplomat asked the US side to further support Vietnam in solving war consequences such as bomb and mine clearance, Agent Orange detoxification and search for Vietnamese soldiers’ remains.
He said cooperation in humanitarian activities remains one of the two countries’ priorities, especially when the two sides have established a comprehensive partnership.
US Ambassador to Vietnam David B. Shear thanked the Vietnamese Government for its effective cooperation over the past 25 years in searching and recovering the remains of US servicemen missing in the war, expressing his wish to closely cooperate in the field.
He also briefed the attendees on the fine development of the two countries’ all-rounded ties, saying that the two sides will tighten ties across the board.
Major General Kelly McKeague from the US Department of Defence and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command spoke highly of the assistance of the Vietnamese Government and provincial authorities in the search for missing service members from the war.
“Without extending your hand in friendship and overcoming the legacy of war, our successes of the past 25 years would not have been possible,” he said, adding that the US is not alone in this humanitarian mission, as an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese who lost their lives still remain unaccounted for.
He said the US is pleased to provide information in its possession or discovered by researchers in the US archives that could be helpful for Vietnam to identify the dead.
Ann Mills Griffiths, Chairman of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, in her letter sent to the celebration ceremony, expressed her appreciation for the cooperation Vietnam has provided in the humanitarian work over the decades.
She said what Vietnam and the US have achieved so far in the field has set an example for other countries to work constructively together in a spirit of humanitarian cooperation and good will.