US ambassador returns lost Vietnam War diary to veteran

U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper on Tuesday returned a wartime diary to a Vietnamese veteran in Hanoi.

The diary was returned to veteran Vu Dac Tuc in Thuong Tin District, according to a press release by the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

Tuc’s diary was found by the U.S. marines on a battlefield in Thua Thien-Hue in central Vietnam in 1967, and has been kept ever since.

Knapper also gave Tuc a letter signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, and thanked Tuc for having participated in an event of returning relics during Biden’s visit in Hanoi in September last year.

At the September 2023 ceremony, Nguyen Van Thien, a friend of Duc, also received his lost wartime diary, which had been lost for 50 years.

Tuc and Thien’s diaries were found during a program by the U.S. Department of Defense to help the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense and the 515 National Steering Committee find the remains of Vietnam War soldiers.

During their cooperation with the Department of Defense, researchers at the Harvard Ash Center have determined the owners of the diaries after analyzing documents and data.

The defense department’s support to find and identify the remains of Vietnam War soldiers is part of efforts to resolve the consequences of war.

By Ngoc Anh – VnExpress.net – February 8, 2024