Vietnam opens new areas in search for missing US soldiers - Polidicks

[quote][B]Vietnam has said it will open up three new areas to American teams searching for US servicemen who went missing during the Vietnam war. [/B]The agreement was made between Vietnamese Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh and his visiting US counterpart, Leon Panetta. Mr Panetta was in Vietnam for a two-day visit to discuss military ties. They also conducted an unprecedented exchange of artefacts taken by soldiers from both nations during the war. Mr Panetta presented the diary of a Vietnamese soldier taken by US marines in 1966. In return, Mr Quang Thanh gave the defence secretary the personal letters of a US killed in action in 1969. [B] Defence partnership[/B] US officials believe the three previously restricted areas that have now been opened up for excavation could be important in the hunt for missing servicemen. Two of the areas, in Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces, were the sites of suspected plane crashes during the war. The third site in Kon Tum province, near the borders with Laos and Cambodia, was the scene of a battle in 1968. The defence secretary said the US had an "enduring commitment" to build a strong defence partnership with Vietnam. His visit follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding on defence co-operation between the two former enemies last year. Correspondents say the meeting was an attempt to shore-up American power in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of growing Chinese influence.[/quote] [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18324161"]BBC[/URL] [img_thumb]http://www.ovmp.org/images/Icons/pow-icon-010.jpg[/img_thumb]

We will never leave a fallen comrade.

watch them find someone alive, impossible yes, but would be cool

[QUOTE=viperfan7;36200441]watch them find someone alive, impossible yes, but would be cool[/QUOTE] I highly doubt it but if they did it'd be amazing

[QUOTE=viperfan7;36200441]watch them find someone alive, impossible yes, but would be cool[/QUOTE] They're mostly searching for remains. And I'm guessing someone on FP will somehow antagonize America [I]somehow[/I] in this thread.

[QUOTE=viperfan7;36200441]watch them find someone alive, impossible yes, but would be cool[/QUOTE] Not impossible. If a Japanese soldier could survive WWII in the Philippines well into the 1970's (Hiroo Onoda), still believing the war is still raging outside, then someone could survive in Vietnam for forty years or so.

Good to see both nations have for the most part gotten past their differences.

[QUOTE=Lankist;36200668]Not impossible. If a Japanese soldier could survive WWII in the Philippines well into the 1970's (Hiroo Onoda), still believing the war is still raging outside, then someone could survive in Vietnam for forty years or so.[/QUOTE] There's actually been a few of those Japanese holdouts over the years.

This is good, it will give those family's affected closure on the horrid mistake that was the Vietnam War.

My dad was a navigator in the Vietnam War for the Navy dropping napalm and picking up soldiers behind enemy lines. He crashed behind enemy lines three times and left over twelve guys dead in the plane unfortunately. Three times he was saved by allied forces. That shit was insane.

Nice to see the US and my country patching up the relationship. I'm usually not siding with the Yanks but it's still MUCH, MUCH better than siding with those pesky Chinese creeping up on our off-shore island and trying to mug it off us. South east asians might just need some western intervention after all.

[QUOTE=ewitwins;36202210]My dad was a navigator in the Vietnam War for the Navy dropping napalm and picking up soldiers behind enemy lines. He crashed behind enemy lines three times and left over twelve guys dead in the plane unfortunately. Three times he was saved by allied forces. That shit was insane.[/QUOTE] My grandparents stocked up on supplies and sold them to American soldiers. I guess we were capitalists in a communist world.

Maybe they might find some lost American who have turn into a Vietnamese citizen

[QUOTE=MeMassiveFag;36204771]My grandparents stocked up on supplies and sold them to American soldiers. I guess we were capitalists in a communist world.[/QUOTE] Your grandparents are from South Vietnam? Did they leave during the fall of Saigon? [editline]5th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=BCell;36204822]Maybe they might find some lost American who have turn into a Vietnamese citizen[/QUOTE] Stockholm syndrome, if nothing else.

it's good that they're making up for it. tbh i reckon they'll find a lot of bodies but probably at least one live soldier who is like, living in a small vietnamese village.

[QUOTE=viperfan7;36200441]watch them find someone alive, impossible yes, but would be cool[/QUOTE] Sort of like those loyal and crazy to the core Japanese that stayed in some island cave years after World War II ended, because they didn't know it ended?

[QUOTE=SKEEA;36200191]We will never leave a fallen comrade.[/QUOTE] You kinda have...

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;36200163][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18324161"]BBC[/URL] [img_thumb]http://www.ovmp.org/images/Icons/pow-icon-010.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] I once met an old Vietnam veteran handing out printouts of that image at a grocery store.

Suddenly, very Apocalypse Now in here

For some reason, I think we might have a China - Russia vs. Vietnam - US + NATO show down in the future.. But I have to honor the Vietnamese for this.

[QUOTE=SexualShark;36222178]For some reason, I think we might have a China - Russia vs. Vietnam - US + NATO show down in the future..[/QUOTE] No. The world =/= Video games.

[QUOTE=alexglitch;36202396]Nice to see the US and my country patching up the relationship. I'm usually not siding with the Yanks but it's still MUCH, MUCH better than siding with those pesky Chinese creeping up on our off-shore island and trying to mug it off us. South east asians might just need some western intervention after all.[/QUOTE] Didn't the Chinese try that earlier and get fought to a standstill, only about 4 years after the war ended?