Cohen begins historic visit to Vietnam

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen takes a salute at an official welcoming ceremony in Vietnam on Monday.

March 13, 2000
Web posted at: 2:12 p.m. HKT (0612 GMT)

In this story: Team searching for remains of U.S. pilot Peterson a former prisoner RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

HANOI, Vietnam (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen arrived in Hanoi on Monday, the first visit by an American defense secretary since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

He was met at the Noi Bai airport by the United States ambassador to Vietnam, Pete Peterson, and small Vietnamese delegation head by a two-star Vietnamese general.

From there Cohen was whisked to a Defense Ministry guest house, where a Vietnamese military band, played the star- spangled banner, as part of a full military honors ceremony.

Cohen then went into a meeting with his counterpart, Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.

Later this afternoon Cohen will travel to a rice paddy in the countryside where American and Vietnamese recovery teams are searching for the remains of a U.S. fighter pilot, Navy Cmdr. Richard Rich of Stamford Connecticut, whose F-4B jet crashed south of Hanoi the morning of May 19, 1967.

Cohen says while his visit is symbolic, it is also important, and that the U.S. is interested in taking small steps to building a military relationship with its former foe, "I think it's a very significant step in looking to the future. This marks our fifth anniversary of our normalization. I think we are making good progress with what needs to be done. This is a step forward."

Cohen told reporters traveling with him that would not apologize for the U.S. role in the Vietnam War in Indochina, "I intend to focus on the future,not on the past".

Cohen did not serve in the Vietnam War, but Ambassador Peterson was a U.S. Air Force pilot who was shot down near Hanoi in 1966.

He was a prisoner of war for six and half years until his release in 1973 along with 590 other American prisoners.

Cohen's visit comes as Vietnam has begun a series of national celebrations of their victory over the U.S. backed government of South Vietnam.

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CIA -- The World Factbook 1999 -- Vietnam
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Embasssy of Vietnam - Washington, DC

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