Australia needs to use some diplomatic pressure here. Surely there’s something Vietnam wants or needs from Australia... sure would be a shame if that something got cancelled.
Well, to be very brutal... The (North Vietnamese) got what all they could get form the Aussies ... The vets and families had already traveled to Vietnam, had spent their money (most of it) already, and will have to spend more of it in Vietnam going home. And waiting for their plane flights back out.
In a country that values “saving face” as they do, this is an insult to the whites. Another Vietnamese war victory over the white capitalists.
What day does Vietnam celebrate Walter Cronkite Day?
I don’t know, maybe the Vietnamese just want to move on.
What I have noticed here in the southern part of Vietnam, is that this is not a country at war anymore. Not even a little. They are busy trying to compete, busy trying to build up their country, and busy working. Everyone is busy. All of the time. Everywhere. Constantly.
Two entire generations, have now grown up here, since the war ended. The average age of the population is I believe, 25. I have (never) gotten any feedback from anyone, anywhere, which seems racist. Zero. It is a bit more conservative than Thailand or Cambodia. Well a lot more conservative from that standpoint (there is not really much of a nightlife scene here, at all). But there is a lot going on here now, still.
I think Vietnam is a new place.
It is a much different world now.
I have New Zealand cousins who fought in Vietnam around about this time...
I don’t know if they were in this one...
Long Tan: Vietnamese authorities allow restricted access to battle site after negotiations