Professor Thomas Patterson at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi.

Bridge - Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Public Affairs has agreed that we may share his letter to VietNamNet Publisher Nguyen Anh Tuan with our readers.

American leading expert on political media to visit Vietnam

Dr. Patterson, a leading expert on American public opinion, wrote that:

In the fifteen years since normalization of relations between Vietnam and the United States, there has been considerable progress. Trade and commerce have blossomed to the point where the United States is a top importer of Vietnamese goods. The two countries have cooperated on numerous educational, cultural, and scientific exchanges. Vietnam and the United States have even pursued joint security agreements.

We can all hope that Vietnam-U.S. relations grow stronger and deeper. Lost opportunities for far too long defined the two countries’ relationship. Ho Chi Minh’s pleas for a free and independent Vietnam were denied by U.S presidents Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman after World War I and World War II respectively, which set the two nations on the path that culminated in a tragic war between them.

The war gave Vietnam mythical status in America. Few countries fascinate Americans as does Vietnam. There mere mention of Vietnam provokes conversation and curiosity. A best-selling book in America now is Matterhorn, a novel about the American-Vietnam war written by Karl Marlantes, who was a soldier in that conflict.

Many of Vietnam’s strongest supporters in the United States are the American soldiers who fought in that war. Like the Vietnamese who fought on one side or the other in the war, they have not forgotten the lost lives and heartbroken families. But they also have not forgotten the beautiful people and country where they spent time as young soldiers. They are proud that Vietnam is on a path toward economic prosperity and a rightful place of leadership in the community of nations. Vietnam’s membership in the World Trade Organization, which was supported by the United States, symbolizes the new Vietnam.

I was one of the young American soldiers who served in Vietnam. Most of my time there was spent as a military advisor in a remote area near the Cambodian border in present-day Long An Province. Like the dozen other Americans in my camp, I lived among the Vietnamese and learned to admire their courage, their industriousness, their quest for learning, their gentle spirit, and their commitment to family and country. I also learned some of their folkways and spent endless hours reading about their history and culture.

After returning home to America, I attended graduate school and subsequently became a professor at Harvard University. There, three years ago, our research center (Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy) was fortunate to have Nguyen Anh Tuan, publisher and editor-in-chief of VietNamNet, as a visiting fellow. We became dear friends and colleagues during his time at Harvard, which provided me an incentive to return to Vietnam.

I have since been to Vietnam for two visits and have been surprised at the warmth with which Americans are received. Only a great people have the ability to look beyond injustices inflicted on them by another nation, and I saw that quality again and again in the Vietnamese I met on my visits. It is a reason why the normalization of relations between Vietnam and the United States has been so successful, and is destined to remain so.

In my classroom and elsewhere, I speak often of the wonders of Vietnam and its people. And I hope to return often to Vietnam to contribute in some small way to its development. None of us can ignore the past, but each of us — whether we are educators, officials, entrepreneurs, managers or employees — has a role to play in the normalization process. Together, we are demonstrating to the world that old foes can become lasting friends and partners.

Thomas Patterson