TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF PEACE OBSERVED IN WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK
Key US and Vietnamese officials and representatives of American not-for-profit organizations working in Vietnam discussed current and future relationships between the two countries at briefings in Washington, DC on Wednesday, April 12th and in New York City one week later.
Both programs focused on the theme “after twenty-five years of peace, what has been accomplished, what does the future offer.”
Speaking in Washington at the historic headquarters of the National Woman’s Party. the Sewall Belmont House were
· Le Van Bang, Vietnam’s first post-war Ambassador to the United States
· Stanley O. Roth, Assistant Secretary of State, East Asian and Pacific Affairs
In addition panelists with substantial experience in Vietnam reflected on the current and future role of more than 100 U.S. institutions such as their own which are working in the country:
· Education: Allan Goodman, President, Institute of International Education
· Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs): David Elder, Director, Asia Programs, American Friends Service Committee; Convener, Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
· Veterans: Ed Miles, Associate Director, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
· Vietnamese-Americans: Khoa Xuan Le, President Emeritus, South East Asia Resource Action Center
· Business: Virginia Foote, Director, US-Vietnam Trade Council
The meeting in New York on April 19th at the Institute of International Education included remarks by
· Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Chau, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations.
· Marshall Bouton, Executive Vice President of the Asia Society
· Frances FitzGerald, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Fire in the Lake
Speaking on their sector were:
· Business: Bradley LaLonde, Vice President, Financial Institutions, Citibank and its former Vietnam Country Manager
· Education: Peggy Blumenthal, Vice President, Institute of International Education
· Foundations: Geraldine Kunstadter, Chairman, Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation
· Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs): Ngan Nguyen, South East Asia Program Officer, Oxfam America
· Veterans: Steven Sherlock, Director, Aid to Southeast Asia
· Vietnamese-Americans: Dao Spencer, Vietnamese American Young Professionals Exchange
Both programs were moderated by John McAuliff, Executive Director, Fund for Reconciliation & Development, a member of an American NGO delegation which arrived in Hanoi on April 30, 1975, just as the last U.S. military and civilian officials were being evacuated from Saigon. Representatives of additional not-for-profit organizations active with Vietnam briefly described their work at the end of each program.
The 25th anniversary events were organized by the Fund for Reconciliation and Development on behalf of the Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and in cooperation with the Asia Society, the Institute of International Education and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.. Support was provided by the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation. The Forum is an informal network of US and Canadian not-for-profit organizations working in Indochina. Descriptions of many of their programs can be found on the web at
The Washington program was broadcast nationally on C-SPAN. A videotape copy is available for $10 (see order form on inside back cover). The tape also includes portions of the New York program. The text of remarks by Ambassadors Bang and Chau and by Assistant Secretary Roth are also available on request, at no cost via internet and for $1 by mail.