Upfront Magazine: Vietnam & The U.S.

       Today I read an article in New York Time's, "Upfront Magazine" that really caught my eye and flooded me with mixed emotions. The article, called "Vietnam & The U.S. A New Chapter?", was about the growing relations between the United States and Vietnam who were once bitter enemy's. In the nineteen sixties and seventies the United States was fighting a war in Vietnam that was not popular among American citizens. The war, which costed over 58,000 American lives, was actually a proxy war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet union funded and advised communist North Vietnam while the U.S. funded, advised and later fought along side the democratic South Vietnam. By nineteen seventy five the Communist were victorious and Vietnam was a completely communist state. Even after 38 years of continued peace and the U.S. restoration  of diplomatic relations in 1995, the scars left behind from the war aren't fading as fast as many people had hoped. One scar the refuses to go away is a chemical called Agent Orange that contaminates the land in many parts of Vietnam. The U.S. sprayed Agent Orange on vegetation that enemy soldiers used for cover. The Agent Orange would kill the vegetation, but it would also contaminated the ground. The Agent Orange got into crops and livestock that people ate. These contaminated foods cause a large amount a birth defects generations after the war. Now the U.S. has begun to work with Vietnam to clean up areas contaminated by Agent Orange. Not only is the U.S. trying to help clean up Vietnam, but they are also investing a lot of money in Vietnam and are trading with Vietnam more than ever. In fact the U.S. is the largest importer of Vietnamese goods. One reason for this increase in relations between the U.S. and Vietnam is because Vietnam's neighbor, China is a growing superpower and needs to be kept in check. Today the U.S. relations with Vietnam are growing, but almost 40 years ago, America and Vietnam were bitter enemies.