For the government it is not so much that they want to forget the war, they very much want to be a sort of protectorate of the US in that they want de facto guarantees against the perceived real threat, China. The US was never perceived as a real long term threat to Viet Nam and the Vietnamese, even as the Communists in the north were contemplating surrender in 69-70. Westerners are a temporary thing. China is everpresent and ever a threat. The Vietnamese focus has been to prevent or to throw off Chinese domination for two thousand years. America is a sometime thing but China will get you smoked.
True enough. But at the same time, Hanoi bureaucrats appear to be lining their pockets by selling Vietnamese natural gas rights to the Chinese.
Latest Gulf of Tonkin Incident Reveals China's Imperialist Designs
Commentary, Thi Q. Lam,
Pacific News Service, Feb 14, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO--Vietnamese communities in the United States, Europe and Australia are protesting the Jan. 8 killing of Vietnamese fishermen by the Chinese navy. On that day, navy ships from the People's Republic of China shot and killed nine Vietnamese fishermen and injured seven others in the Vinh Bac Bo (Gulf of Tonkin). Eight fishermen were kidnapped.
[snip]
The 2000 Vinh Bac Bo Pact [with China] includes only a vaguely worded clause stipulating that "when gas is confirmed, the two sides will explore it together." Nguyen Dinh Sai, an engineer who has done extensive research on the Vinh Bac Bo, has written about a secret agreement between Vietnam and China that spells out in detail how the proceeds from gas production would be distributed between the two parties. From this we can infer that some kind of understanding between the two countries regarding the allocation of the proceeds from gas production must have been reached before the exploration operations can begin.
If true, the fishing rights issue may be only a cover, and the Jan. 8 massacre may be part of a well-concocted scheme to terrorize Vietnamese fishermen and to discourage them from venturing into Chinese gas exploration areas.
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=48b8f8c6203529cbd50b4ca149abeac4
I haven't heard of the Chinese Navy docking at the Port of Sai Gon or in the Red River as a show of friendship. That was a fairly strong statement of intent.
And just prior to the Vandegrift's arrival in Sai Gon during Nov. 2003, I personally saw dozens of uniformed Aussie military guys (easily 100+) pouring out of the Sai Gon Center Building on Le Loi, apparently there for some sort of joint military conference. They were even out late at night in the local Vietnamese techno clubs.
Don't be surprised if ANZUS eventually becomes VANZUS.