President tells 7 year old

Chuck Searcy, Vice President of Project RENEW and Co-chair of the Agent Orange Working Group. — Photo pbs.org Việt Nam News reporter Hoàng Anh talks to Chuck Searcy, Vice President of Project RENEW and Co-chair of the Agent Orange Working Group. When did you come to Việt Nam and what motivated your decision? ​The first time I came to Việt Nam was in 1967, as a 20-year-old soldier in the US Army. The year I spent in the war had a profound impact on me. That experience made me hate war. I saw the lies used by the US government to win support from the American people to continue the war, and I saw the death and destruction, the pain and the sorrow being caused to American families, but especially the terrible and tragic costs to the Vietnamese people. When I left the war zone in 1968, I knew that someday I would return - and I hoped it would be in a time of peace and recovery for Việt Nam. What was your impression when you first returned to the country? ​​When I … [Read more...] about US army veteran returns to Viet Nam to heal scars of war

Vietnamese-German Trần Văn Đức, a survivor of the Mỹ Lai massacre. — VNS Photo Công Thành Viet Nam News QUẢNG NGÃI — It’s been around 50 years since former US Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle documented the tragic Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, when 504 unarmed villagers – 182 women, and 173 children and infants – in the centre of now Tịnh Khê Commune, in Sơn Tịnh District, were killed by soldiers of Charlie Company, under the command of Lieutenant Calley. A ceremony, which was held yesterday in memory of the Vietnamese civilians, cruelly killed during the American war, was attended by former President Trương Tấn Sang; deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình, local residents and US veterans. At the ceremony, the Mỹ Lai Memorial Foundation was introduced to build connections between lovers of peace around the world. A 41-ha Mỹ Lai Peace Park is also planned for construction in the village, and a square will be built in the coming years. “Everything has changed. … [Read more...] about Mỹ Lai memorial sends message of peace

US, Asia agree in-principle, differ on details of APEC free trade area (02-12-2006) While Asian economies want first to form a free trade area among themselves, Washington, fearing discrimination, wants swift, simultaneous implementation. by P Parameswaran The United States and Asian economies are divided over how to implement a plan to set up an Asia-Pacific free trade area, two weeks after agreeing to study the ambitious proposal. The Asian economies want to first establish a free trade area among themselves before considering the implementation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific but Washington wants them to be hooked to the plan simultaneously. Leaders of the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum agreed at their meeting in Viet Nam last month to commission a study of the free trade zone linking Asia and the Americas for evaluation next year. The plan was pushed for by the United States, with President George W Bush … [Read more...] about US, Asia agree in-principle, differ on details of APEC free trade area

by Thu Vân “Your pens are the sharp weapons in the cause of telling the truth…” Thus began a letter that President Ho Chi Minh wrote to intellectuals and journalists in the southern part of the country on May 25, 1947. He also said in the same letter that “journalists should act like brave soldiers in the revolution to gain back unity and independence for the country.” One cannot imagine loftier ideals for this profession. Today, the lofty ideals may remain, but there are times I feel these are gathering dust in the shelves of our memory as the profession goes through one existential crisis after another. More than seven decades after President Hồ Chí Minh wrote the famous letter, it is fair to say journalism has gone through many changes, all over the world. Today, the profession is wedded, one could even say welded, to technology and business, and this creates a host of challenges in terms of the profession succeeding in the market place, in capturing the readers’ or … [Read more...] about Some good news, some bad news, some hopeful news