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In December 1981, Rober Muller and John Terzano led a delegation of American veterans to return to Vietnam for the first time after the end of the war in 1975. During the visit, they met with Vietnamese Government officials to start dialogues on issues of mutual concern. Constant visits in a decade later culminated in the establishment of the VVAF Office in Hanoi in 1994. Since then, a number of VVAF-funded humanitarian projects have been developed to help Vietnam overcome the consequences of war.

To mark their historic visit to Vietnam 25 years ago, Mr Muller and Mr Terzano returned to Vietnam on December 16 for a four-day visit. Among their activities in Vietnam, they introduced a documentary Going Back featuring their first visit to Vietnam in 1981.

During the visit, they called on General Vo Nguyen Giap, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisation Vu Xuan Hong and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health. 

VVAF has a long history of engagement in peace and justice activities, including the International Campaign To Ban Landmines, which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Under the tireless leadership of Mr Muller and Terzano, VVAF has carried out various projects to address the consequences of war in several countries. Its activities are focused on assisting innocent victims of conflicts, reducing the threat of nuclear weapons and addressing inequality in the death penalty system in the US.

VVAF has been developing many programmes in Vietnam including a programme on functional rehabilitation for people with disabilities, a programme on clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance and a humanitarian assistance programme for people who were exposed to herbicides during the war. The organisation also has a project to bring the disabled together into self-help groups, a project to examine mental health needs and services and a project to build a primary school complex.