Former refugee returns to Vietnam as US commander

More than 30 years after he was picked up by a US warship as he fled Vietnam, Le Ba Hung has returned to his homeland as commander of a destroyer in a sign of warming ties between the former foes.

On April 30, 1975, five-year-old Hung escaped on a trawler with his parents, three siblings and scores of other Vietnamese.

With the fall of Saigon that day, the war had ended with the communists poised to take control of a unified Vietnam.

Hung, now commander of the USS Lassen, still has memories of those last hours in his native country.

"We left with around 200 passengers. By the time we were picked up by the US Navy warship, the number had doubled to about 400 people," he recalled.

Before they were spotted by the navy, the trawler had been at sea for two days and had picked up other refugees who left on smaller boats.

Hung left behind four other brothers and sisters in their home city of Hue, close to Danang, where his destroyer made an official port call in a goodwill visit at the weekend.

It would be several years before they would be reunited in the United States.

His mother and some of his brothers and sisters have visited Vietnam but Hung said he had been too busy with his studies and work to have an opportunity to return until now.

Hung, who graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1992, said he decided on a career at sea following in the footsteps of his father, who was a commander in the US-backed South Vietnamese navy, which fought against the communist North.

His father has never returned to his homeland. "It would be a very long trip for him," said Hung, 39.

Hundreds of thousands fled Vietnam at the end of the war in 1975 as boat people, often risking their lives to escape. Some left with no intention of ever returning.

Relations between Vietnam and the majority of its diaspora have been marked by decades of mutual distrust and bitterness which has only recently started to fade.

Increasing numbers of overseas Vietnamese, known as "Viet Kieu," now return to their homeland on business or to set up ventures.

Conscious of the reservoir of talent and capital among the Viet Kieu -- who sent home about eight billion dollars in 2008, according to Hanoi estimates -- the communist government is actively courting them.

While it still accuses those who campaign for democracy of being "hostile forces," Hanoi is granting more and more rights to other overseas Vietnamese, including property ownership, visa exemptions and dual nationality.

This increasing recognition of the Viet Kieu has gone hand-in-hand with the warming of relations with the United States.

Washington lifted its economic embargo in 1994, a year before the normalisation of relations with its old foe.

Since then, the United States has become the number one market for Vietnamese exports. And, as the Vietnamese worry about Beijing's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, US naval ships are more regular visitors to the communist country.

"The US and Vietnam have a growing friendship, and this visit is a tangible symbol of that," the commander said Saturday.

During their few days' stopover in the region he hopes to visit relations who remained in Hue.

Official programmes are also planned for his crew and those of the flagship USS Blue Ridge, which took part in the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.

Despite the media enthusiasm, a diplomatic false note disturbed the start of their visit on Saturday.

Angry at not seeing their national flag flying from the mast of the American flagship, some Vietnamese officials started to boycott the reception ceremony. Things did not return to order until the red flag with a yellow star was hoisted.

Despite the hiccup, Hung said he hoped to see military cooperation between the former enemies.

"I hope there will be some military-to-military engagement and exercise in the future," the commander said.

"That would help the regional stability in this part of the world and that would better develop our mutual understanding of each other's capabilities and how to operate with one another."

He said returning to Vietnam was something he had thought about over the years.

"It is deeply moving for me to be standing here, representing my country -- the United States of America -- but also acutely aware that Vietnam -- its culture, its people, and its traditions -- has played such an important role in my life," he said.

The commander said he would like to return as an ordinary citizen.

"I don't know when that would be but I certainly would like to make a trip here."