A Presidential Meeting

VVA National President John Rowan and his wife Mariann attended a reception in New York City on July 27 for President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam. Rowan took part in a private meeting before the reception with President Truong, and with Vietnam’s U.S. Ambassador Nguyen Quoe Cuong, Vietnam’s U.N. Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, other Vietnamese officials, and members of that nation’s Vietnam Veterans Association, along with other U.S. Vietnam veterans.

“I was most impressed with President Truong’s thanks for the work being done on MIAs,” Rowan said, “especially the help VVA’s Veterans Initiative has provided in obtaining information on their 300,000 MIAs.”

During a Q&A, Rowan thanked Truong for his government’s support of U.S. efforts to repatriate our MIAs. “I also noted our work of almost twenty years with the Vietnamese Veterans Association in helping locate Vietnamese MIAs and returning war souvenirs that might help identify their casualties,” Rowan said. “I was gratified to learn that resolving the MIA issue is a major priority of the Vietnamese government at the highest levels.”