Old Soldier's Return
"Yes, it was interesting. I was in the cockpit as we arrived. I just wanted to see....see the paddies — the beautiful green." And so began one Vietnam War veteran's description of his return, more than 30 years after waging war against the people he was now coming to see.
This Vietnam vet, however, was not going back to the A Shau Valley, nor would he have a chance to revisit once-familiar haunts in Hue or Quang Tri. Not at all. Colin Powell, who left Vietnam a major in the U.S. Army in 1969, was returning as Secretary of State aboard a gleaming U.S. Air Force airliner and he was landing in Hanoi, capital of a now-united Vietnam.
"And then to hear the voice of the air traffic controller in the tower, greeting our pilot and giving him instructions and to hear that voice, that accent again brought back memories from years ago," Powell told reporters traveling with him. "Then the drive in to the city. So much has changed, of course, but so much is the same."
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| Lighting incense at the Joint Task Force memorial |
"I know first-hand from 39 years ago — before most of these kids were born," Powell smiled — "...they are doing something that is very important. All of my buddies came home. Even those who died we got the remains, but for the ones who did not, there is a longing in the hearts of their family members, their fellow veterans."
After placing several roses at a memorial to JTF members who died this past April in a helicopter crash, Powell noted "the casualties of the war continue."
Powell had said before leaving Washington he expected to feel "an emotional tinge" when he got to Vietnam but also that "there are no ghosts within me that need exorcism."
In Hanoi to attend a meeting of Asian nations, Powell had time for only limited interaction with the people of Hanoi. During a brief, 15-minute stroll near his hotel, he said "I did get a sense of the sights and the sounds of the city...and it brought back a lot of memories. It reminded me of my days in Hue and Quang Tri. Same kinds of shops; smiling people; happy people. They wanted to talk. And if I hadn't been committed (to return to meetings) it would have been an opportunity to talk, shop, or sit down and have a cup of tea."
After his meetings with senir Vietnamese government officials, Powell said he heard it expressed in different ways from those officials that "the past is the past and let it be. The war is over."
Perhaps on his next visit he'll take time for that cup of tea.
By Charles Wolfson
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