Learning from U.S.-Vietnam Cooperation on Wartime Remains Recovery

How Vietnamese and Americans are Working Together to Account for Missing Personnel from the Vietnam War

The U.S. and Vietnam have cooperated since 1988 in seeking the fullest possible accounting of the 1,973 Americans listed as missing in action (MIA) at the end of the war — the first major step towards normalization of U.S.-Vietnam relations. In 2021, after years of information-sharing, the U.S. Department of Defense and Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense launched a joint program to expand Vietnamese efforts to account for the estimated 300,000 Vietnamese personnel who remain missing.

Accounting for missing personnel is an essential component of postwar reconciliation and building a secure peace. With support from Congress, USIP launched the Vietnam War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative in August 2021. The initiative supports reconciliation between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments and peoples, as well as among Vietnamese inside and outside the country, and aims to document and promote the ongoing cooperation to address legacies of war as the basis for a comprehensive partnership build on trust and shared interests.

Join USIP for a discussion that looks at U.S.-Vietnam cooperation in the search for, and identification of, wartime Vietnamese remains along with personal stories of Vietnamese families who lost relatives in the war.

Take part in the conversation on Twitter with #USAVietnam.

Speakers
Lise Grande, welcoming remarks
President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace

Kelly K. McKeague
Director, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)

Maj. Gen. Trần Quốc Dũng
Chair of the Executive Office, National Steering Committee 515

Hải Nguyễn
Director, Global Vietnam Wars Studies Initiative, Harvard University

Tim Rieser
Foreign Policy Aide to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy

Thảo Griffiths
Independent Consultant on War Legacies, Hanoi

Hoàng Thanh Nga
Deputy Chief of Mission, Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United States

Andrew Wells-Dang, moderator
Senior Expert, Vietnam, U.S. Institute of Peace

For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.usip.org/events/learning-us-vietnam-cooperation-wartime-remains-recovery

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The United States Institute of Peace is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical and essential for U.S. and global security. In conflict zones abroad, the Institute works with local partners to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict. To reduce future crises and the need for costly interventions, USIP works with governments and civil societies to build local capacities to manage conflict peacefully. The Institute pursues its mission by linking research, policy, training, analysis and direct action to support those who are working to build a more peaceful, inclusive world. Learn more about USIP: https://www.usip.org/about