US soldiers left Vietnam 50 years ago. How do these nations cooperate now?
In the 50 years since it ended, the Vietnam War has reshaped attitudes of soldiers and protesters alike about both the U.S. military and America鈥檚 engagement with the world.
This has included prompting reflections about America鈥檚 military missions and methods within the Pentagon itself. It was, after all, in part because of protests like the one a young soldier named Rodney Coates undertook 鈥� under threat of possible execution 鈥� that the U.S. military ended the draft and became an all-volunteer force.
As Americans mark the 50th anniversary of the April 30 withdrawal of the last Americans from Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), U.S. diplomats in Vietnam have reportedly been told to avoid commemorating a war America didn鈥檛 win and one in which President Donald Trump, using a medical exemption, didn鈥檛 fight.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onIn the 50 years since the Vietnam War ended, America and Vietnam鈥檚 efforts at partnership and reconciliation have continued. In some cases, these efforts mirror the war veterans鈥� journeys as well.
Yet America and Vietnam continue to forge ties.
Investment and trade between the two nations have grown dramatically in the past 25 years, and military ties have also deepened. Funds for some projects that acknowledge some of America鈥檚 harmful wartime operations in Vietnam are flowing again after being put on hold during a 90-day evaluation period.
While President Trump鈥檚 high tariffs proposed for Vietnam have thrown a wrench into deepening ties, Vietnam continues to view the United States as a critical security counterweight to China, its northern neighbor. How Vietnam handles uncertainty around a U.S. trade war could influence how closely the two countries continue to partner.
Cooperation plays an 鈥渆ssential role in the process of reconciliation and trust-building between the two countries,鈥� the state-run Viet Nam News wrote. That process mirrors the journey of many Vietnam veterans.
College deferments and the call of duty
For Dr. Coates, a young Black soldier in the late 1960s and early 鈥�70s, that journey to reconciliation 鈥� even with his own country 鈥� began as a college student who had qualified for a coveted academic deferment from the Vietnam draft.
Spending college weekends at home in East St. Louis with his father, a police officer, and his mother, who worked at the local Air Force base, he felt guilty, he says, when he ran into friends being drafted or parents who鈥檇 lost a child fighting. With his own family history of military service dating back to the Spanish-American War, he grappled with shame, he says, that he had the 鈥減rivilege鈥� of attending college and not fighting alongside his peers.
Back on campus at Southern Illinois University, he countered a professor. 鈥淗e was ranting about why the war was bad, and I, being the obnoxious college student, raised my hand and asked him, 鈥楽o what war did you serve in?鈥欌��
The answer was no wars. The young Dr. Coates then accused the professor of being 鈥渋nauthentic.鈥� He and another classmate 鈥渓iterally got up at that moment, walked out of class, and found our way to the Army recruiting station.鈥�
In Vietnam, his best friend was the New Orleans-born son of a Ku Klux Klan leader. 鈥淗e would always say, 鈥榊ou know, Rodney, you鈥檙e my best friend. But you can鈥檛 date my sister.鈥� I鈥檇 say, 鈥楲ook, Ralph, I鈥檝e seen a picture of your sister 鈥� she鈥檚 just as ugly as you are.鈥� I mean, we were tight.鈥�
The whole unit was tight. Off-duty, they studied the history of Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader of North Vietnam, who had modeled his military campaign of independence from colonial France on George Washington.
Then they decided the American war was immoral and went on strike.
This meant they no longer recorded communications that it was their mission to collect. Their unit commanders called in Dr. Coates and several fellow soldiers and threatened them with court-martial and execution.
But the 200-member unit stuck together. Leadership backed down, quietly dispersing and replacing the troops instead.
Home from Vietnam, the disillusioned soldier became a conscientious objector as he served out his enlistment.
From conflict to reconciliation
Today, Dr. Coates is a college professor and U.S. Army veteran who takes pride in his military service and appreciates the democracy that allowed him to protest it.
America鈥檚 relationship with its former adversary has evolved as well. The U.S. lifted its ban on lethal weapons sales to Vietnam in 2016 and, late last year, for the first time since the war, delivered a 鈥渘ext-generation military鈥� training aircraft to its former adversary.
Washington鈥檚 goal 鈥渋s to ensure that Vietnam has what it needs to defend its interests at sea, in the air, on the ground, and in cyberspace,鈥� U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said in December. Tensions in the South China Sea have increased as Vietnam disputes Chinese claims in the strategic waters.
鈥淭he Vietnamese people I鈥檝e met in the military, and outside ... want to make a better life for themselves by being able to effectively defend their nation,鈥� says retired Col. Thomas Webster, an executive at Textron Aviation in Kansas, which makes the training aircraft. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very interested to see where this goes.鈥�
There was some doubt about that bilateral trajectory when President Trump issued an executive order shortly after taking office, suspending funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development for projects in Vietnam.
This included U.S. efforts to remove millions of unexploded mines it planted during the war and to remediate the damage of Agent Orange, sprayed to destroy foliage that helped fighters hide, along with projects to improve the lives of those born in areas of chemical contamination.
After a 90-day government review, these projects have largely been reinstated, analysts say, though the future of a widely anticipated exhibit scheduled to open this year at the Reconciliation War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City remains to be seen.
The plan had been for the U.S. and Vietnam to cooperate on a joint exhibit about 鈥渙vercoming the consequences of war鈥� and 鈥渞esolving war legacies,鈥� featuring the U.S. de-mining and Agent Orange remediation efforts. It would mark 鈥渢he first time the U.S. government has a direct say in how events surrounding the Vietnam War are memorialized,鈥� says Tappy Lung, an international relations specialist who the topic at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A shared experience
As for Dr. Coates, he struggled for years to make sense of his service and the skepticism he encountered within the protest movement upon his return. He decided that sharing his experience, particularly having grown up as a 鈥減rivileged Black person,鈥� was the point of his teaching as a professor at Miami University in Ohio.
In recent years, a friend who鈥檇 long been encouraging Dr. Coates to talk more about the war gave him a 鈥淰ietnam veteran鈥� baseball cap and urged him to wear it.
Dr. Coates finally agreed on the same day that he was late for a flight. 鈥淭he counter lady says, 鈥榃e鈥檒l try to get you on the next one.鈥欌�� Then she saw his hat.
鈥淪he called two of the tallest, thickest white boys from Kentucky鈥� to hustle him to the plane, thanking him for his service along the way. Now he rarely leaves the house without his hat.
鈥淓ven shopping, white folks in Southern gear 鈥� I mean with rebel flags on their shoulders 鈥� send their kids over to say, 鈥楾hank you, sir, for your service.鈥欌��
鈥淚t鈥檚 a trip,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of what we did, that we challenged this war 鈥� and I鈥檓 proud of my service.鈥�
