Decades of trust-building in Vietnam, coming undone by Trump

On April 30, 1975, the Vietnam War came to an end, as North Vietnamese closed in on the South Vietnamese capital and thousands of American personnel frantically evacuated.

The war left a devastating legacy: More than 3 million Vietnamese died and more than 58,000 U.S. troops were killed. The remains of more than 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers and 1,200 U.S. service members are still missing.

Over the past five decades, there has been a delicate progress toward peace and reconciliation between the countries, facilitated by trade, U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Under President Donald Trump, that’s all being unraveled.

On today’s show, South East Asia Bureau chief Rebecca Tan shares her reporting from Vietnam on the painful legacies of the war and how U.S.-Vietnam relations are suddenly faltering.

This episode was produced by Elana Gordon, and mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Lucy Perkins with help from Peter Finn and Maggie Penman. Thank you to Emma Talkoff.

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