Robert Newberry, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/MIA Affairs said that he has handed over personal belongings of Vietnamese soldiers to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Robert Newberry

Robert Newberry the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/MIA Affairs, told Vietnamese press that he has handed over personal belongings of Vietnamese soldiers to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

These keepsakes were kept by the families of two American soldiers. One is a diary and a book of sketches by a Vietnamese soldier-painter.

According to Newberry, the two American families had kept these keepsakes since the Vietnam War. “They asked us to send these relics to Vietnam in the hope to help seek missing people or console the families of these soldiers,” he said.

The US official is now in Vietnam to discuss bilateral cooperation in seeking American missing in action soldiers in Vietnam.

Talking about the cooperation between the two countries in the past ten years, he said “Vietnam’s cooperation is wonderful”.

Newberry said that the US Department of Defence will strengthen the search for MIA in Vietnam. He also said that during Vietnamese Defence Minister’s visit to the US this December, the two sides will discuss bilateral cooperation, including MIAs.

Newberry said the two sides are searching in the most difficult areas.

PV