26 APRIL-MAY 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL security partnership we have today. We have supported Vietnam’s efforts to build a capable multisectoral public health workforce and equipped laboratories with advanced diagnostic capabilities like genomic sequencing to detect influenza and other potential threats to global health security. All these areas of collaboration support Vietnam’s bold goals: becoming a digital economy by 2035, a high-income nation by 2045, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Our collaboration spans nearly all aspects from agriculture to space cooperation. As I often say, if it’s worth doing, the United States and Vietnam are doing it. Reconciliation Is the Foundation While 2025 marks 30 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam, we also recognize the historical significance of where we are today by remembering 50 years since the end of the war. The anniversary is personal to me, the son of a veteran. My family’s connections to Vietnam span generations. My grandmother lived in Saigon in the 1960s. My father, Marine Colonel Roger E. Knapper, served in Da Nang and Hue during the height of the war. His experiences shaped his life and mine. In 2004 my son and I accompanied my father on his return trip to Vietnam, fulfilling his dream of seeing the country at peace and thriving after experiencing the horrors of war. Together, we witnessed a nation transformed—one that had rebuilt itself into a beacon of resilience and progress. That journey was a clear reminder of the sacrifices on both sides and the enduring importance of reconciliation. My father has since passed away, but his experience stays with me during my talks with American veterans revisiting former battlefields or meeting with former enemy combatants. These encounters reflect the full-circle nature of reconciliation and the power of shared understanding. American visitors, to include U.S. Vietnam War veterans, often tell me they are surprised by the warm reception they receive from the Vietnamese people “despite” our history. I believe it is because of our steadfast commitment to reconciliation about that history, and having overcome so much together, that Vietnam is receptive to Americans. Reconciliation remains the foundation of our partnership. The effort began with the search for missing American service members, followed later by assisting persons with disabilities, clearing unexploded ordnance, and remediating dioxin hotspots. One of the most moving moments of my tenure was participating in a Joint Field Activity with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and Vietnam’s National Office for the Seeking of Missing Persons. In Quang Binh province, I sifted through soil to find bone fragments and twisted metal shards of aircraft equipment to recover the remains of those missing in action. I had the honor of participating in a repatriation ceremony following the site visit and later learned that the remains were identified as those of U.S. Marine Corps Captain Ronald W. Forrester from Odessa, Texas, and Captain Ralph J. Chipman from American Fork, Utah, who were lost in action in 1972. Supporting the work to find Ambassador Marc Knapper joins an onsite POW/MIA operation in Quang Binh province, March 2023. Above: Ambassador Marc Knapper and his son visit his father’s grave after his death in 2014. Inset: Amb. Knapper (left) with his father and his son. U.S. EMBASSY HANOI COURTESY OF MARC KNAPPER
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